THE  HARTFORD-LAM  SON  LECTURES 
ON  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  WORLD 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE 
CHINESE 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO 
ATLANTA  •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA.  LTD 

TORONTO 


THE  RELIGION 

OF 

THE  CHINESE 


BY 

J.  J.  M.  DEGROOT,  PH.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  ETHNOGRAPHY  IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  LEYDEN,  HOLLAND 


~: 

*>     Of  T 


|2cto  forft 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1910 

jtll  rights  restrved 


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COPYRIGHT,  1910 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Setup  and  electrotyped.    Published  January,  igio 


THE  MASON-HENRY  PRESS 

SYEACUSE,    NEW   YOEK 


NOTE 

THE  Hartford-Lamson  Lectures  on  "The  Re- 
ligions of  the  World"  are  delivered  at  Hartford 
Theological  Seminary  in  connection  with  the  Lam- 
son  Fund,  which  was  established  by  a  group  of 
friends  in  honor  of  the  late  Charles  M.  Lamson, 
D.D.,  sometime  President  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  to  assist 
in  preparing  students  for  the  foreign  missionary 
field.  The  Lectures  are  designed  primarily  to  give 
to  such  students  a  good  knowledge  of  the  religious 
history,  beliefs,  and  customs  of  the  peoples  among 
whom  they  expect  to  labor.  As  they  are  delivered 
by  scholars  of  the  first  rank,  who  are  authorities  in 
their  respective  fields,  it  is  expected  that  in  pub- 
lished form  they  will  prove  to  be  of  value  to 
students  generally. 


194603 


For  the  use  of  students  desiring  to  examine  more 
m  detail  the  subject  of  these  Lectures,  the  following 
list  is  given  of  works  by  Dr.  DeGroot,  treating  of 
the  Religion  of  the  Chinese. 

Les  Fetes  annuellement  celebrees  a  Emoui  (Amoy). 
Etude  concernant  la  Religion  populaire  des 
Chinois.  Two  Volumes  4°,  832  pages.  Illus- 
trated. Published  in  the  Annales  du  Musee 
Guimet,  1886. 

Le  Code  du  Mahayana  en  Chine.  Son  influence 
sur  la  Vis  Monacale  et  sur  le  monde  laigne. 
Published  by  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences 
at  Amsterdam,  1893.  Imp.  8°,  276  pages. 

Sectarianism  and  Religious  Persecution  in  China. 
A  page  in  the  History  of  Religions.  Published 
by  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Amster- 
dam;  1903-1904.  Two  Volumes  Imp.  8°,  595 
pages. 

The  Religious  System  of  China.  Its  ancient  forms, 
evolution,  history,  and  present  aspect.  Man- 
ners, custom,  and  social  institutions  connected 
therewith. 

Part  I.  Disposal  of  the  Dead.  Vol  I-III,  1468 
pages. 

Part  II.     On  the  Soul  and  Ancestral  Worship. 

Vol.  IV.     The    Soul    in    Philosophy    and 

Folk-conception. 

Vol.  V.     Demonology. — Sorcery. 
Vol.  VI.     The   War   against    Specters.— 
The  Priesthood  of  Animism. 

vi 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION i 

UNIVERSALISTIC  ANIMISM.     POLYDEMONISM.  .  3 

THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  SPECTERS 33 

ANCESTRAL  WORSHIP   62 

CONFUCIANISM   89 

TAOISM 132 

BUDDHISM — I   164 

BUDDHISM — II    190 


vii 


UNIVERSITY 


INTRODUCTION 

Is  China's  religion  a  world-religion,  and  as  such 
worth  studying? 

A  place  as  a  world-religion  must,  without  hesi- 
tation, be  assigned  to  it  on  account  of  the  vast 
number  of  its  adherents.  It  has  extended  the  circle 
of  its  influence  far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the 
empire  proper,  and  has  gained  access,  together 
with  Chinese  culture  generally,  into  Korea,  Japan, 
Manchuria,  and  Turkestan,  as  well  as  into  Indo- 
China,  though,  of  course,  in  modified  forms.  Hence 
a  proper  understanding  of  the  religions  of  East 
Asia  in  general  requires  in  the  first  place  an  under- 
standing of  the  religion  of  China. 

China's  religion  proper,  that  is  to  say,  apart  from 

Buddhism,  which  is  of  foreign  introduction,  is  a 

*',- 

spontaneous  product,    spontaneously   developed   in 
the  course  of  time. 

Its  origin  is  lost  in  the  night  of  ages.  But  there 
is  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  it  is  the  first  religion  the 
Chinese  race  ever  had.  Theories  advanced  by  some 


2  INTRODUCTION 

scientists  that  its  origin  may  be  looked  for  in  Chal- 
dean or  Bactrian  countries  must  as  yet  be  rejected 
as  having  no  solid  foundation.  It  has  had  its  patri- 
archs and  apostles,  whose  writings,  or  the  writings 
about  whom,  hold  a  pre-eminent  position;  but  it 
has  had  no  founders  comparable  with  Buddha  or 
Mohammed.  It  has  had  a  spontaneous  birth  on 
China's  soil. 

Since  its  birth,  it  has  developed  itself  under  the 
influence  of  the  strongest  conservatism.  Its  prime- 
val forms  were  never,  as  far  as  is  historically 
known,  swept  away  by  any  other  religion,  or  by 
tidal  waves  of  religious  movement  and  revolution. 
Buddhism  eradicated  nothing;  the  religion  of  the 
Crescent  is  only  at  the  beginning  of  its  work;  that 
of  the  Cross  has  hardly  passed  the  threshold  of 
China.  In  order  to  understand  its  actual  state,  we 
have  to  distinguish  sharply  between  its  native,  and 
its  exotic  or  Buddhist  element.  It  is  the  native 
element  which  will  occupy  us  first  and  principally. 


CHAPTER  I 

UNIVERSALISTIC  ANIMISM.     POLYDEMONISM 

THE  primeval  form  of  the  religion  of  the  Chinese, 
and  its  very  core  to  this  day,  is  Animism.  It  is 
then  the  same  element  which  is  also  found  to  be 
the  root,  the  central  nerve,  of  many  primeval 
religions,  the  same  even  which  eminent  thinkers  of 
our  time,  as  Herbert  Spencer,  have  put  in  the  fore- 
ground of  their  systems  as  the  beginning  of  all 
human  religion  of  whatever  kind. 

In  China  it  is  based  on  an  implicit  belief  in  the 
animation  of  the  universe,  and  of  every  being  or 
thing  which  exists  in  it.  The  oldest  and  holiest 
books  of  the  empire  teach  that  the  universe  con- 
sists of  two  souls  or  breaths,  called  Yang  and 
Yin,  the  Yang  representing  light,  warmth,  produc- 
tivity, and  life,  also  the  heavens  from  which  all  these 
good  things  emanate ;  and  the  Yin  being  associated 
with  darkness,  cold,  death,  and  the  earth.  The 
Yang  is  subdivided  into  an  indefinite  number  of 
good  souls  or  spirits,  called  shen,  the  Yin  into  par- 

3 


4         :   :  ,      TJIE;  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

tides  or  evil  spirits,  called  kwei,  specters ;  it  is  these 
shen  and  kwei  which  animate  every  being  and 
every  thing.  It  is  they  also  which  constitute  the 
soul  of  man.  His  shen,  also  called  hwun,  imma- 
terial, ethereal,  like  heaven  itself  from  which  it 
emanates,  constitutes  his  intellect  and  the  finer 
parts  of  his  character,  his  virtues,  while  his  kwei, 
or  poh,  is  thought  to  represent  his  less  refined 
qualities,  his  passions,  vices,  they  being  borrowed 
from  material  earth.  Birth  consists  in  an  infusion 
of  these  souls;  death  in  their  departure,  the  shen 
returning  to  the  Yang  or  heaven,  the  kwei  to  the 
Yin  or  earth. 

Thus  man  is  an  intrinsic  part  of  the  universe, 
a  microcosmos,  born  from  the  macrocosmos  spon- 
taneously. But  why  should  man  alone  be  endowed 
by  the  universe  with  a  dual  soul?  Every  animal, 
every  plant,  even  every  object  which  we  are  wont 
to  call  a  dead  object,  has  received  from  the  universe 
the  souls  which  constitute  its  life,  and  which  may 
confer  blessing  on  man  or  may  harm  him.  A  shen 
in  fact,  being  a  part  of  the  Yang  or  the  beatific  half 
of  the  universe,  is  generally  considered  to  be  a  good 
spirit  or  god;  a  kwei,  however,  belonging  to  the 
Yin  or  other  half,  is,  as  a  rule,  a  spirit  of  evil,  we 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM        5 

should  say  a  devil,  specter,  demon.  There  is  no 
good  in  nature  but  that  which  comes  from  the  shen 
or  gods;  no  evil  but  that  which  the  kwei  cause  or 
inflict. 

With  these  dogmata  before  us,  we  may  now  say 
that  the  main  base  of  the  Chinese  system  of  re- 
ligion is  a  Universalistic  Animism.  The  universe 
being  in  all  its  parts  crowded  with  shen  and  kwei, 
that  system  is,  moreover,  thoroughly  Polytheistic 
and  Polydemonistic.  The  gods  are  such  shen  as 
animate  heaven,  sun,  moon,  the  stars,  wind,  rain, 
clouds,  thunder,  fire,  the  earth,  seas,  mountains, 
rivers,  rocks,  stones,  animals,  plants,  things — in 
particular  also  the  souls  of  deceased  men.  And  as 
to  the  demon  world,  nowhere  under  heaven  is  it  so 
populous  as  in  China.  Kwei  swarm  everywhere, 
in  numbers  inestimable.  It  is  an  axiom  which  con- 
stantly comes  out  in  conversing  with  the  people, 
that  they  haunt  every  frequented  and  lonely  spot, 
and  that  no  place  exists  where  man  is  safe  from 
them.  Public  roads  are  haunted  by  them  every- 
where, especially  during  the  night,  when  the  power 
of  the  Yin  part  of  the  universe,  to  which  specters 
belong,  is  strongest.  Numerous,  in  fact,  are  the 
tales  of  wretches  who,  having  been  accosted  by 


6  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE    CHINESE 

such  natural  foes  of  man,  were  found  dead  by  the 
roadside,  without  the  slightest  wound  or  injury 
being  visible :  their  souls  had  simply  been  snatched 
out  of  them.  Many  victims  of  such  encounters 
could  find  their  way  home,  but  merely  to  die 
miserably  shortly  after.  Others,  hit  by  devilish 
arrows,  were  visited  with  boils  or  tumors,  which 
carried  them  off,  or  they  died  without  even  any  such 
visible  marks  of  the  shots.  And  how  many  way- 
farers have  fallen  in  with  whole  gangs  of  demons, 
with  whom  they  engaged  in  pitched  battles?  They 
might  stand  their  ground  most  heroically,  and  ulti- 
mately worst  their  assailants;  yet,  hardly  at  home, 
they  succumbed  to  disease  and  death. 

Ghosts  of  improperly  buried  dead,  haunting 
dwellings  with  injurious  effect,  and  not  laid  until 
re-buried  decently,  are  the  subject  of  many  tales. 
Especially  singular,  but  very  common,  it  is,  to  read 
of  hosts  of  specters  setting  whole  towns  and  coun- 
tries in  commotion,  and  utterly  demoralizing  the 
people.  Armies  of  spectral  soldiers,  foot  and  horse, 
are  heard  moving  through  the  sky,  especially  at 
night,  kidnaping  children,  smiting  people  with 
disease  and  death,  playing  tricks  of  all  sorts,  even 
obscenities,  compelling  men  to  defend  themselves 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM        7 

with  noise  of  gongs,  drums  and  kettles,  with  bows, 
swords  and  spears,  and  with  flaming  torches  and 
fires.  They  steal  the  pigtails  of  inoffensive  people, 
cutting  these  off,  actually  in  broad  daylight,  even 
from  very  respectable  gentlemen  and  high  nobles, 
preferably  while  enjoying  some  public  theatrical 
performance  in  a  square  or  bazar,  or  when  visiting 
a  shop,  or  even  in  their  own  houses,  in  spite  of  se- 
curely barred  doors.  To  some  the  idea  occurs 
that  the  miscreants  may  be  men,  bad  characters, 
bent  on  deriving  advantage  somehow  from  the  pre- 
vailing excitement.  Thus  tumults  arise,  and  the 
safety  of  unoffending  people  is  placed  in  actual 
peril.  Unless  it  be  admitted  by  general  consent 
that  the  mischief  is  done  exclusively  by  invisible 
malignant  specters,  the  officials  interfere,  and,  to 
reassure  the  populace  and  still  the  tempest  of 
emotion,  imprison  persons  upon  whom  suspicion 
falls,  preferably  sending  out  their  policemen  and 
soldiers  among  members  of  secret  religious  sects, 
severely  persecuted  by  the  government  as  heretics 
because  enemies  of  the  old  and  orthodox  social 
order,  as  evil-intentioned  outlaws,  the  corroding 
canker  of  humanity.  In  most  cases,  their  judicial 
examinations  corroborate  their  pre-conceived  sus- 


8  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

picion,  for  they  admirably  understand  the  art  of 
extorting,  by  scourge  and  torture,  even  from  the 
most  obdurate  temperaments,  any  confessions,  but 
especially  such  as  they  beforehand  have  assumed 
to  be  true.  Flagellation,  banishment  to  Turkestan, 
strangulation  with  a  rope,  and  similar  things,  in- 
separable from  Chinese  judicial  methods,  crown 
the  work. 

While  such  whirlwinds  of  public  excitement 
blow,  the  most  intelligent,  as  well  as  the  most 
ignorant,  go  wild  with  excitement  and  fear.  The 
absurdest  stories  are  circulated  and  universally 
believed.  Officials  in  such  emotional  disturbances 
concert  measures,  and  throw  oil  into  the  fire. 
They  issue  proclamations,  each  directly  calculated 
to  increase  the  disturbance  of  the  public  mind. 
They  exhort  people  to  stay  at  home,  close  their 
doors,  and  look  after  their  children.  They  pre- 
scribe medicines  and  charms,  to  be  used  internally 
or  externally.  They  try  to  avert  the  specters  by 
means  of  sacrifices,  summoning  them  to  go  away; 
even  emperors  from  the  height  of  their  thrones 
have  posed  with  respect  to  specter-plagues  and  sent 
officers  and  ministers  to  the  regions  where  they 
prevailed  in  order  to  offer  sacrifices  to  them  and, 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM        9 

in  the  sovereign's  august  name,  summon  them  to 
cease  their  terrible  work.  Such  mental  typhoons 
are  seldom  confined  within  narrow  limits,  but 
mostly  spread  over  several  provinces. 

Where  belief  in  specters  and  spectrophoby  so 
thoroughly  dominate  thought  and  life,  demon  lore 
is  bound  to  attain  its  highest  development.  Litera- 
ture in  China  abounds  with  specter  tales, — no  stories 
in  Chinese  eyes,  but  undeniable  truth.  A  very 
large  number  may  be  traced  to  books  of  the  Tang  " 
dynasty,  belonging  to  the  seventh,  eighth  or  ninth 
century.  Confucius  divided  the  specters  into  three 
classes :  those  living  in  mountains  and  forests,  in  ^^ 
the  water,  and  in  the  ground.  The  first  class  is 
the  most  dangerous.  And,  among  them,  the  most 
notorious  are  specters  with  one'  eye  on  the  top  of 
their  heads,  which,  merely  by  their  presence,  cause 
drought,  and,  as  a  consequence,  destruction  of 
crops,  dearth,  famine, — all  which  mean  in  China 
destruction  of  thousands,  nay  millions  of  lives. 
Such  calamities  have  always  harassed  China  like 
chronic  plagues.  Books,  dating  from  the  earliest 
times,  mention  their  prevalence.  Religious  cere- 
monies to  avert  them  and  bring  down  rains  have 
always  formed  an  integral  part  of  the  official  duties 


IO  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

of  princes,  governors,  and  mandarins.  The  arrival 
of  one  pah — as  these  devils  are  called,  even  in 
classical  works,  suffices  to  call  forth  such  a  catas- 
trophe. It  may  come  with  the  quickness  of  wind. 
In  order  to  defend  yourself  and  your  country 
against  it,  catch  it  and  throw  it  into  the  dung-pit, 
or  into  the  privy,  and  the  drought  will  vanish: 
thus  runs  the  sovereign  recipe. 

Water  demons,  too,  are  numerous,  and  of  various 
sorts.  Most  of  them  are  souls  of  drowned  men, 
unable  to  release  themselves  from  their  watery 
grave  unless  they  draw  another  human  being  into 
it.  Accidents  which  befall  those  who  cross  a  body 
of  water  are  ascribed  to  those  demons,  lying  in 
ambush  for  victims.  They  are  a  constant  lurking 
danger  to  fishermen,  boatmen,  and  washerwomen. 
They  blow  hats  into  the  water,  linen  from  the 
bleaching  ropes;  and  while  the  owner  exerts  him- 
self to  recover  his  property,  they  treacherously  keep 
the  thing  just  beyond  his  reach,  until  he  loses  his 
equilibrium  and  tumbles  into  a  watery  grave. 
Should  a  corpse  be  found  on  the  silt,  its  arms  or 
legs  worked  deep  into  the  mud,  every  one  is  sure 
to  believe  that  it  is  a  victim  of  a  water  ghost, 
drawn  down  by  those  limbs  with  irresistible  force. 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM      II 

Cramps  paralyzing  a  swimmer,  are  likewise  the 
clutches  of  a  water  ghost.  When  a  man  is  missed, 
and  later  found  dead  in  the  water,  every  one  is 
ready  to  explain  that  a  water  ghost  has  decoyed 
him  away  from  his  house  by  some  trick,  and 
drowned  him. 

In  the  third  place,  we  have  the  demons  which 
inhabit  the  ground.  They  dwell  also  in  objects 
firmly  attached  to  the  soil;  in  houses  and  heavy 
things.  As  the  soil,  if  fecundated  by  the  celestial 
sphere,  is  the  productive  part  of  the  universe,  which 
engenders  all  sorts  of  living  things,  disturbance 
of  such  earth  spirits  by  digging  in  the  ground  or 
moving  heavy  objects,  naturally,  by  the  laws  of 
sympathy  and  universalism,  disturbs  the  repose 
and  growth  of  the  embryo  in  the  womb  of  woman. 
Their  baneful  influence  even  affects  babies  already 
born,  these  as  well  as  the  vegetable  kingdom  being 
dependent  for  their  growth  on  the  life-producing 
earth.  It  is  those  spirits  which  cause  convulsions; 
and  everybody  feels  sure  that,  should  a  child  fall 
into  their  clutches  it  would  certainly  forthwith 
turn  black  and  blue.  They  are,  of  course,  notori- 
ous for  causing  the  pains  of  pregnancy,  and  even 
miscarriage. 


12  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

The  fear  of  such  a  result  restrains  a  man  from 
many  imprudent  acts,  should  his  wife  or  concubine 
be  pregnant.  Especially  perilous  it  is  then  to  drive 
a  nail  into  the  wall,  as  it  might  nail  down  the  earth 
specter  which  resides  in  it,  and  cause  the  child  to 
be  born  with  a  limb  stiff  and  useless,  or  blind  of 
one  eye ;  or  it  might  paralyze  the  bowels  of  a  child 
already  born,  and  give  it  constipation  with  fatal 
result.  The  dangers  which  threaten  a  future 
mother  increase  as  her  pregnancy  advances.  In 
the  end  nothing  may  be  displaced  in  the  house; 
even  the  shifting  of  light  objects  becomes  a  source 
of  danger.  Instances  are  known  of  fathers  who 
had  rolled  up  their  bedmats  after  they  had  long 
lain  flat,  being  frightened  by  the  birth  of  children 
with  rolled-up  ears.  Once  I  saw  a  boy  with  a 
harelip,  and  was  told  by  the  father  that  his  wife, 
when  pregnant  with  this  child,  had  thoughtlessly 
made  a  cut  in  an  old  coat  of  his,  while  mending  it. 

But  nothing  is  so  perilous  as  the  commotion 
created  among  earth  specters  by  repairs  of  houses, 
or  by  the  application  of  labor  to  the  soil.  When 
at  Amoy  any  one  undertakes  anything  of  the  kind, 
the  neighbors  take  good  care  to  seek  lodgings  else- 
where for  their  women  who  are  expecting  confine- 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM      13 

ment,  not  allowing  them  to  return  until  the  work  is 
fairly  advanced,  and  the  disturbed  spirits  have  had 
time  to  resettle  in  their  old  abodes.  In  default  of 
a  suitable  place  to  shelter  such  a  woman,  public 
opinion  obliges  the  builder  to  delay  till  after  her 
confinement. 

The  natural  history  of  the  demon  kingdom  is  not 
herewith  exhausted.  A  very  large  contingent  has 
been  contributed  to  it,  in  all  times  and  ages,  by  the 
animal  kingdom.  Animals  have,  in  fact,  the  same 
natural  constitution  as  men,  being  built  up  of  the 
same  Yang  and  Yin  substances  of  which  the  uni- 
verse itself  consists;  and  while  identification  of 
specters  with  men  prevails  in  demonism,  the  invest- 
ment of  animal  specters  with  human  attributes,  and 
even  human  forms,  has  been  the  result.  China 
has  its  were-wolves,  but  especially  its  tiger  demons. 
The  royal  tiger  is  her  most  ferocious  brute,  the 
terror  of  its  people,  often  throwing  villages  into 
general  commotion  and  panic,  and  compelling 
country  people  to  remove  to  safer  spots.  Folk- 
lore abounds  with  tales  of  man-tigers  ravening 
as  bloodthirsty  demons ;  with  tales  of  men  accused 
of  having  raged  as  tigers,  being  delivered  to  the 
magistrates,  and  formally  put  to  death  by  their 


14  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

orders;  of  wretches  being  chased  by  the  people 
with  lances  and  swords,  or  burned  in  their  own 
houses.  Wounds  inflicted  on  a  were-beast  are  be- 
lieved to  be  visible  on  the  corresponding  part  of 
its  body  when  it  reassumes  human  shape:  a  trait 
also  of  our  own  lycanthropy.  As  in  other  countries 
where  royal  tigers  live,  so  in  China  exceptional 
specimens  are  known  to  prey  preferably  on  men. 
But  instead  of  ascribing  this  idiosyncrasy  to  their 
having  experienced  how  easy  a  prey  man  generally 
is,  or  to  their  steady  predilection  for  human  flesh 
after  having  once  tasted  it,  the  Chinese  aver  that 
the  man-eater  is  incited  by  the  ghost  of  every  last 
victim  to  a  new  murder.  Thus  fancy  has  created 
a  class  of  injurious  human  specters  in  the  service 
of  the  monster,  or  sometimes  thought  to  inhabit  it ; 
each  such  specter  brings  the  beast  on  the  track  of 
a  new  human  victim,  desiring  nothing  better  than 
to  deliver  itself  from  its  bondage  by  thus  getting 
a  substitute. 

There  is  hardly  any  species  of  animal  in  China 
about  whose  changes  into  men  folk-lore  has  not ' 
stories   to  tell.     Foxes  and  vixens  especially,  but 
also  wolves,  dogs,  and  snakes  are  notorious  for  thus 
insinuating  themselves  into  human  society  for  im- 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM     IQ 

Thus  we  see  that  the  kwei  or  specters,  as  sole 
and  general  agents  of  heaven  for  the  distribution 
of  evil  among  men,  are  an  indispensable  element  in 
China's  religion.  Their  dogmatical  existence  is 
the  main  inducement  to  the  worship  of  heaven, 
which  aims  first  of  all  to  secure  the  propitiation  of 
this  supreme  power  to  the  end  that  it  may  withhold 
its  avenging  kwei.  All  the  shen  or  gods  of  inferior 
rank,  being  parts  of  the  Yang,  are  the  natural 
enemies  of  the  kwei,  because  these  are  the  con- 
stituents of  the  Yin ;  indeed,  the  Yang  and  the  Yin, 
in  the  order  of  the  world,  are  in  an  eternal  struggle, 
manifested  by  alternation  of  day  and  night,  sum- 
mer and  winter,  heat  and  cold.  The  worship  and 
propitiation  of  the  gods,  which  is  the  main  part  of 
China's  religion,  has,  like  the  worship  of  Heaven  * 
or  the  Supreme  God,  no  better  purpose  but  to 
induce  the  gods  to  defend  man  against  the  world 
of  specters,  or,  by  descending  and  living  among 
men,  to  drive  specters  away  by  their  overawing  , 
presence.  That  cult  in  fact  means  invocation  of 
happiness,  but  happiness  simply  means  absence  of 
misfortune  which  the  specters  bring.  Idolatry  yf 
means  the  disarming  of  specters  by  means  of  the  • 
gods. 


2O  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 


Accordingly  the  belief  in  specters  is  not  in 
China,  as  among  us,  banished  to  the  domain  of 
superstition  or  even  nursery  tale.  It  is  a  funda- 
mental  principle  of  China's  universalistic  religion; 
it  is  a  doctrine  as  true  as  the  existence  of  the  Yin, 
as  true  then  as  the  existence  of  the  order  of  the 
world,  or  the  Tao  itself.  But  for  that  doctrine  and 
its  consequences,  China's  cult  of  gods  would  ap- 
pear rather  meaningless,  and  would  certainly 
show  itself  in  forms  quite  different  from  those  it 
actually  assumes.  If  missionaries  in  China  wish 
to  conquer  idolatry,  they  will  have  to  destroy  the 
belief  in  demons  first,  together  with  the  classical 
cosmological  dogma  of  the  Yang  and  Yin,  in  which 
ir  is  rooted,  and  which  constitutes  to  this  day  Con- 
fucian truth  and  wisdom  of  the  very  highest  kind. 
They  will  have  to  educate  China  in  a  correct  knowl- 
edge of  nature  and  its  laws;  China's  conversion 
will  require  no  less  than  a  complete  revolution  in 
her  culture,  knowledge,  and  mode  of  thought, 
which  have  been  tutored  throughout  all  time  by 
antiquity,  and  the  classical  books  through  which 
antiquity  speaks. 

The  study  of  the  relations  of  the  Chinese  to  their 
spirit  world,  and  of  that  spirit  world  itself,  conse- 


/ 
/ 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM     21 

quently,  is  a  study  of  their  religion.  It  is  the  study 
of  the  animism,  magic  and  idolatry  of  a  great 
part  of  the  human  race.  It  is  at  the  same  time  a 
study  of  customs,  belief,  and  culture.  It  is  also  the 
study  of  the  antiquity/and  history  of  culture.  In- 
deed, more  perfectly  than  anywhere  else  in  this 
world,  culture  is  in  China  a  picture  of  the  past. 
Her  literature  may  be  regarded  as  the  chief  creator 
of  this  phenomenon.  Mental  culture  and  religion  \/ 
have,  indeed,  been  transmitted  in  China  from  age 
to  age  by  tradition;  and  tradition  was  always  - 
guided  by  books  in  which  it  was  written,  and  the 
oldest  of  which  are  the  most  esteemed.  It  was  the 
books  that,  merely  describing  them,  in  fact  petrified 
them,  keeping  them  remarkably  free  from  novelty, 
which,  in  Chinese  civilized  opinion,  always  is  cor- 
ruption and  heterodoxy.  Almost  everything  which 
the  books  have  to  tell,  the  Chinese  take  for  truth 
and  genuine  fact,  as  reliable  as  any,  they  being  in 
fact  not  advanced  far  enough  in  science  and  cul- 
ture to  distinguish  between  the  possible  and  the 
impossible.  This  fact,  too,  renders  their  books  of 
the  highest  value  to  students  of  China's  religion; 
Chinese  books  must  of  necessity  be  their  guides. 
Individual  experience  and  personal  inquiry,  though 


22  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

highly  useful,  become  matters  of  secondary 
importance. 

The  belief  in  a  world  of  specters  which  are  of 
high  influence  upon  man  is  in  China's  religion  even 
more  than  its  basis.  It  is  a  principal  pillar  in  the 
building  of  morality. 

The  Tao  or  order  of  the  universe,  which  is  the 
yearly  and  daily  evolutions  and  revolutions  of  the 
Yang  and  the  Yin,  never  deviates  or  diverges ;  it  is 
just  and  equitable  to  all  men,  producing  and  pro- 
tecting them  impartially.  Heaven,  the  greatest 
~ power  of  the  universe,  the  Yang  itself,  by  means  of 
the  gods  rewards  the  good,  and  by  means  of  the 
specters  punishes  the  bad,  with  perfect  justice. 
There  is,  in  other  words,  in  this  world  no  felicity 
but  for  the  good. 

£lear  illustrations  of  the  belief  in  the  infliction 
of  punishments  by  spirits  acting  with  authorization 
of  heaven  we  have  as  early  as  the  Tso-chwen,  a 
book  ascribed  to  a  disciple  of  Confucius,  and  there- 
fore invested  for  all  succeeding  ages  with  dogmatic 
authority.  That  book  also  teaches  that  spirits  even 
punish  or  bless  whole  kingdoms  and  peoples  for 
the  conduct  of  their  rulers,  descending  to  make  it 
flourish  if  its  rulers  are  virtuous,  or  to  make  it 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM     23 

decline  if  they  are  wicked.  Accounts  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  rewards  and  punishments  by  ghosts 
are  disseminated  through  the  literature  of  all 
periods.  Ethnologists  have  written  collections  of 
such  accounts  for  the  maintenance  of  public 
morality.  They  tell  of  souls  of  murdered  people 
betraying  their  murderers,  and  the  circumstances 
of  the  crime  to  the  authorities  while  dreaming  or 
dozing,  and  showing  them  the  place  where  the 
corpse  or  other  pieces  de  conviction  may  be  found. 
They  relate  how  murderers,  seeing  themselves  so 
mysteriously  detected,  made  a  clean  breast  at  once, 
and  confessed  everything.  In  one  case,  the  ghost 
prevents  the  culprit  from  escaping  by  nailing  him 
by  his  hair  to  a  wall,  before  betraying  him.  We 
are  also  told  of  victims  of  judicial  error,  chastising 
their  unworthy  judges  with  disease  and  death.  A 
child  murdered  by  its  step-mother  haunts  her  home 
so  ferociously  as  to  bring  death  upon  her  and  her 
offspring.  An  innocent,  wealthy  man  in  Kwang- 
tung,  put  to  death  by  a  rapacious  prefect  merely 
in  order  to  confiscate  his  possessions,  regularly 
appears  in  that  grandee's  premises,  stubbornly  beat- 
ing the  great  drum  placed  there  for  all  who  apply 
for  redress  of  wrong,  until  the  prefect  sickens 


24  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

from  remorse  and  anxiety,  and  dies.  Especially 
numerous  in  the  books  are  instances  of  persons 
haunted  by  the  souls  of  their  victims  on  their 
\/  deathbeds,  where,  in  most  cases,  the  ghosts  them- 
selves state  expressly  that  they  are  avenging 
themselves  with  the  special  authorization  of  heaven, 
at  the  foot  of  whose  throne  they  have  lodged  their 
complaints. 

The  diversity  of  such  tales  and  traditions  is,  of 
course,  infinite.  Numerous  also  are  the  tales  of 
spirits,  under  obligation  for  clemency,  rewarding 
their  benefactors.  Imperial  commanders  have  been 
victorious  through  the  help  of  hosts  of  specters 
assisting  their  troops  in  battle.  Tales  of  ghosts 
rewarding  those  who  bestowed  care  upon  their 
unburied  or  badly  buried  corporeal  remains,  occur 
in  Chinese  literature  in  strikingly  large  numbers, 
tending  to  maintain  and  promote  such  care  as  a 
branch  of  social  benevolence,  and  as  a  subject  of 
imperial  legislation  in  all  ages.  Especially  people 
laying  sacrilegious  hands  upon  tombs  have  always 
incurred  the  revenge  of  the  injured  souls.  In  con- 
versing with  the  Chinese  we  find  that  the  belief  in 
specters  and  their  punishments  prevails  throughout 
all  classes,  unshaken  to  this  day,  continuously 


UNIVERSALISTIC  ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM     2$ 

revived,  as  it  is,  in  everybody  by  hundreds  of  tales 

\jr 

handed  down  from  the  good  old  times ;  and  all  are  x 
considered  authentic,  because   of   the   simple   fact 
that  they  occur  in  books.     Ghosts  may  interfere  at 
any  moment  with  human  business  and  fate,  either H 
favorably  or  unfavorably. 

This  doctrine  indubitably  exercises  a  mighty  and  \/ 
salutary  influence  upon  morals.  It  enforces  respect 
for  human  life,  and  a  charitable  treatment  of  the 
infirm,  the  aged,  and  the  sick,  especially  if  they 
stand  on  the  brink  of  the  grave.  Benevolence  and 
humanity,  thus  based  on  fear  and  selfishness,  may 
have  little  ethical  value  in  our  eyes ;  yet  their  exist- 
ence in  a  country  where  culture  has  not  yet  taught 
man  to  cultivate  goodness  for  the  sake  of  good 
alone,  may  be  greeted  as  a  blessing.  Those  virtues 
are  even  extended  to  animals;  for,  in  fact,  these, 
too,  have  souls  which  may  work  vengeance  or 
bring  reward.  But  the  firm  belief  in  ghosts  and  . 
their  retributive  justice  has  still  other  effects.  It 
deters  from  grievous  and  provoking  injustice,  be- 
cause the  wronged  party,  thoroughly  sure  of  the 
avenging  power  of  his  own  ghost  when  disem- 
bodied, will  not  seldom  contrive  to  convert  himself 
into  a  wrathful  ghost  by  committing  suicide.  It  is 


26  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

still  fresh  in  my  memory  how  such  a  course  was 
followed  in  1886  by  a  shopkeeper  at  Amoy,  pressed 
hard  by  a  usurer  who  had  brought  him  to  the  verge 
of  ruin.  To  extort  payment,  this  man  ran  away 
with  the  shutters  of  his  shop,  thus  giving  its  con- 
tents a  prey  to  burglars ;  but  in  that  same  night  the 
wretch  hanged  himself  on  his  persecutor's  door- 
post, the  sight  of  his  corpse  setting  the  whole  ward 
in  commotion  at  daybreak,  and  bringing  all  the 
family  storming  to  the  spot.  The  usurer,  fright- 
ened out  of  his  wits,  had  no  alternative  but  to  pay 
them  a  considerable  indemnification,  with  an  addi- 
tional sum  for  the  burial  expenses;  on  which  they 
pledged  their  promise  not  to  bring  him  up  before 
the  magistrate.  Pending  those  noisy  negotiations, 
the  corpse  remained  untouched  where  it  hung. 
Thus  the  usurer  had  a  hairbreadth  escape  from  jail, 
torture,  and  other  judicial  woes;  but  whether  he 
slipped  through  the  hands  of  his  ethereal  victim, 
no  one  could  tell.  It  impressed  me  to  hear  on 
that  occasion  from  the  Chinese  that  occurrences 
of  this  kind  were  very  far  from  rare,  and  they  told 
me  a  good  many,  then  fresh  in  everybody's 
memory. 

As   sure   as  the   spirit's   retaliation  must   reach 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM     27 

murderers  and  causers  of  suicide,  so  sure  it  is  to 
come  down  upon  any  persecutor  whose  victim  dies 
of  grief  or  despair.  Whatever  the  deed  may  be 
for  which  it  is  rendered,  such  spiritual  vengeance 
may  manifest  itself  in  different  ways.  The  ghost 
may  enter  into  the  body  of  his  enemy,  and  make 
him,  under  the  influence  of  a  glass  too  much,  or  in 
a  fit  of  mental  derangement,  blab  out  his  crime  with 
all  its  particulars,  so  that  earthly  justice  becomes 
able  to  lay  its  hands  on  him.  Or  it  may  take  pos- 
session of  his  body  to  render  him  ill  or  mad;  it 
may  even  cause  his  death  after  long  and  painful 
suffering,  or  drive  him  to  self-murder.  Prevalent 
opinion,  continuously  inspired  anew  by  literature 
of  all  times  and  ages,  admitting  that  spiritual  ven- 
geance may  descend  in  all  imaginable  forms, 
admits  also  that  it  may  come  down  in  the  form  of 
disease  and  death  upon  the  culprit's  offspring. 
This  tenet,  so  revolting  to  our  own  feelings  of  just-^/ 
ice,  tallies  perfectly  with  the  Chinese  conception 
that  the  severest  punishment  which  may  be  inflicted 
on  one,  both  in  his  present  life  and  in  the  next,  is 
decline  or  extermination  of  his  male  issue,  leaving 
nobody  to  support  him  in  his  old  age,  nobody  to 
protect  him  after  his  death  from  misery  and  hunger 


28  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

by  caring  for  his  corpse  and  grave,  and  sacrificing 
to  his  manes.  A  dissolute  son  squandering  the 
possessions  of  his  family,  and  disgracing  it  by  a 
licentious  and  criminal  life,  is  often  taken  for  a 
man  who,  having  been  wronged  by  his  father  or  an 
ancestor,  had  himself  reborn  as  that  son,  in  order 
thus  to  have  his  cruel  vengeance.  Conversely,  an 
excellent  child,  which  is  the  glory  of  its  family, 
generally  passes  for  a  reincarnation  of  some  grate- 
ful spirit. 

The  vengeance  of  spirits  may  in  many  a  case  be 
very  long  in  reaching  its  object.  For,  thus  the 
Chinese  say,  every  man  lives  under  the  dominion  of 
his  destiny,  created,  of  course,  by  the  order  of  the 
universe,  the  Tao,  which  is  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
and  the  Yin;  and  if  that  natural  fate  is  felici- 


tous,  firm,  solid,  on  account  of  merits  gained  by  the 
individual  himself  in  his  present  life,  or  in  a  pre- 
vious existence,  or  by  his  ancestors  —  the  world  of 
specters  is  perfectly  powerless  against  him,  seeing 
these  have  to  comply  altogether  with  heaven's 
will,  or  Tao.  But  as  soon  as  his  store  of  merits  is 
outbalanced  by  an  adequate  amount  of  demerits, 
his  account  with  heaven  being  thus  squared,  the 
rancorous  spirits  regain  full  liberty  to  attack  his 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM      29 

tottering  destiny ;  and  whatever  expedients  human 
genius  may  now  set  at  work  to  ward  off  evil  from 
him — they  remain  altogether  without  effect. 

This  simple  complex  of  tenets  lays  disrespect  for 
human  lives  under  great  restraint.     They  are  often 
efficient  in  preventing  female  infanticide,  a  mon- 
strous custom,  practised  extensively  among  the  poor. 
The  fear  that  the  souls  of  murdered  little  ones  may 
bring  misfortune,  induces  many  a  father  or  mother 
to  lay  girls  they  are  unwilling  to  bring  up,  in  the 
street   for  adoption   into   some   family   or   into    a 
foundling  hospital.     At  least  one  such  institution 
is  to  be  found  in  many  populous  towns.    They  are 
founded    and    maintained    by    the    authorities    in 
concert  with  the  wealthy  and  fashionable  citizens. 
These  worthies  increase  their  stock  of  merit  by  dis- 
tributing from  time  to  time  tracts  against  infan- 
ticide.    Such  documents  for  the  most  part  afford 
curious  reading.    They  give  wise  exhortations  from 
the  lips  of  gods  and  saints,  with  terrifying  instances 
of   punishments    inflicted   by    unseen   powers    and 
baby  souls  on  parents  and  midwives  guilty  of  child 
murder.      Many    tracts,     shaped    like    books,    are 
profusely    illustrated.     Such    narratives    of    child 
murder,  though  they  bear  all  the  marks  of  imagina- 


3O  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

tion,  perfectly  well  answer  their  ethical  purpose, 
deeply  impressing,  as  they  do,  the  simple  minded. 
Their  topic  is  often,  of  course,  people  reaping 
rewards  for  having  virtuously  abstained  from  the 
monstrous  practice,  or  for  having  tried  to  deter 
others  from  it. 

The  highest  ambition  of  every  Chinese  being 
admission  into  the  mandarin  class,  it  becomes 
almost  a  matter  of  course  to  find  success  at  the 
world-famed  examinations  which  open  access  to 
official  posts,  foremost  among  the  rewards  bestowed 
by  grateful  spirits.  Numerous  instances  of  their 
having  helped  candidates  to  obtain  iheir  degree 
occur  in  the  books  of  the  present  and  the  past.  On 
the  other  hand,  being  plucked  often  passes  for  a 
proof  that  no  grateful  spirits  interfered,  or  that 
some  rancorous  spirit  prevented  the  candidate 
from  producing  a  super-excellent  essay.  There  are 
always  among  the  host  of  candidates  some  who 
become  ill  in  their  cells,  or  deranged  in  mind,  or 
even  die  in  consequence  of  nervousness  or  excite- 
ment; it  should  be  stated  with  full  emphasis  that 
the  Chinese  generally  ascribe  such  events  to  re- 
vengeful specters. 

Curious  tales  circulate  as  to  how  they  behave. 


OF 


UNIVERSALISTIC   ANIMISM.      POLYDEMONISM     3! 

Some  candidates  they  bereave  of  consciousness. 
Others  they  render  ill,  mad,  delirious,  and  of  a 
greater  number  they  stifle  the  memories,  making 
them  sit  silly  over  their  writing  paper,  unable  to 
put  down  even  one  sentence  or  character.  Some  are 
kept  in  a  constant  state  of  nervousness  by  soft 
voices  and  sounds  on  the  roof  of  their  cells.  Others 
are  haunted  by  the  souls  of  their  murdered  infants  ; 
nay,  it  sometimes  occurs  that,  under  the  pressure 
of  some  revengeful  ghost,  candidates  write  down  a 
circumstantial  confession  of  their  crimes,  in  lieu  of 
an  essay  on  the  theme  given.  There  are  also  those 
who,  on  leaving  their  cells,  blurt  out  their  sins  aloud 
before  the  whole  crowd  of  candidates,  or  are  found 
dead  in  their  cells,  having  opened  an  artery  with 
a  sherd  of  their  teapot  or  teacup,  in  default  of 
other  cutting  instruments. 

With  respect  to  virtuous  candidates,  the  spirits 
behave  quite  otherwise.  They  clear  their  brains, 
arousing  in  them  many  a  bright  idea,  which,  con- 
verted into  writing,  evinces  depth  of  learning,  wis- 
dom and  intellect. 

A  study  of  Chinese  thought  and  life  attests  de- 
cidedly the  existence  of  a  point  of  importance, 
which  we  have  now,  in  conclusion,  to  emphasize  as 


32  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

a  cornerstone  in  the  foundation  of  China's  religion ; 
it  is  a  doctrine  of  the  Chinese  nation,  a  dogma,  an 
axiom,  an  inveterate  conviction,  that  spirits  exist, 
keeping  up  a  most  lively  intercourse  with  the  living 
— as  intimate  almost  as  that  among  men.  In  every 
respect  that  intercourse  bears  an  active  character. 
It  brings  blessing,  and  evil  as  well,  the  spirits  thus 
effectually  ruling  mankind's  fate.  From  them  man 
has  everything  to  hope,  but  equally  much  to  fear. 
As  a  natural  consequence,  it  is  around  the  ghosts 
and  spirits  that  China  groups  her  religious  acts, 
with  the  sole  intent  to  avert  their  wrath  and  the 
evil  it  brings,  and  to  insure  their  goodwill  and  help. 
The  acts,  manners,  and  methods  by  which  she  tries 
to\  realize  this  dual  object  are  numerous;  they  are 
the  fruits  of  the  inventive  genius  of  China  as  a 
whole  through  a  long  series  of  centuries,  the  re- 
flection of  her  wit  and  intellect,  both  old  and 
modern,  which,  conversely,  nothing  could  illustrate 
so  well  as  her  universalistic  animistic  religion. 
Those  acts,  manners  and  methods  will  then  be  the 
chief  topic  of  the  following  chapters. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST  SPECTERS 

IN  my  first  chapter  I  have  tried  to  demonstrate 
that  the  basis  of  China's  religion  is  the  moving  uni- 
verse, that  is  to  say,  the  rotation  of  nature,  called 
the  Tao,  or  road,  manifesting  itself  in  the  revolu- 
tion of  time,  the  days  and  the  seasons,  or — which 
means  the  same  thing — in  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
operations  of  Yang  and  Yin,  respectively  the  bright 
and  warm,  the  dark  and  cold,  halves  of  the  universe. 
I  have  demonstrated  also  that  this  dualism  is  con- 
sidered to  consist  in  the  activity  of  shen,  which  are 
the  components  of  the  Yang;  and  of  kwei,  which 
are  the  components  of  the  Yin;  the  shen  thus  being 
gods  from  whom  good  proceeds,  and  the  kwei 
being  specters  by  whom  evil  is  wrought.  The 
conclusion  is,  that  Chinese  religion  must  be  con- 
ceived as  a  system  aiming  at  the  propitiation  of  the 
aforesaid  gods,  in  order  to  prevail  upon  them  to 
prevent  the  devils  from  doing  harm  to  man. 

It  is  then  self-evident  that  the  universe  is  filled 
up  in  all  its  parts  with  gods  and  specters  and  that 
3  33 


34  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

China's  religion  is  a  broad  system  of  polytheism  and 
v  demonism.  I  have  afforded  you  a  peep  into  that 
demonism.  I  have  laid  stress  on  the  fact  that  it 
has  reached  a  high  stage  of  development,  the 
highest  probably  that  might  be  reached;  and  that 
the  demon  world  is  placed  under  the  natural  tute- 
lage of  heaven,  and  occupies  the  rank  of  moral 
educator  of  the  people.  In  this  important  role  it 
claims  the  attention  of  all  students  of  foreign 
religion.  This  demonism  has  thus  fulfilled  a  great 
mission  to  many  thousands  of  millions  who  have 
lived  and  died  on  Asiatic  soil.  Demonism,  the 
lowest  form  of  religion,  in  China  a  source  of  ethics 
and  moral  education — this  certainly  may  be  called 
a  singular  phenomenon,  perhaps  the  only  one  of 
the  kind  to  be  found  on  this  terrestrial  globe. 

Demonism  further  has  another  important  and 
interesting  side.  It  is  the  principal  author  of 
magic,  which  pervades  the  religious  system  of  the 
Chinese  in  all  its  parts. 

The  intense  belief  in  the  dangerous  omnipresence 

>^of  evil  spirits,  which  has  dominated  all  classes  of 

the  Chinese  from  the  earliest  times,  and  has  never 

been  weakened  by  growth  or  change  of  culture, 

necessarily  leads  us  to  the  logical  inference  that, 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  35 

likewise  from  the  earliest  times,  people  must  have 
sought  eagerly  for  means  to  defend  themselves 
against  those  beings.  No  people  in  this  world  ever 
was  more  enslaved  to  fear  of  specters  than  the 
Chinese;  no  people  therefore  has  excelled  the 
Chinese  in  inventing  means  to  render  them  harmless. 

The  war  against  the  host  of  spirits  of  evil,  in  fact, 

*v 
bears  in  China,  from  days  of  yore,  the  character  of 

magic,  art  or  skill,  that  is  to  say,  of  shuh.  It  is 
guided  by  a  strategy  invented  by  the  thinking 
faculties  of  the  nation,  by  its  sophistry  passing  for 
philosophy ;  but  especially  by  tactics  which  ances- 
tors have  declared  in  word  or  writing  to  be  useful 
and  effective.  In  all  ages  this  war  has  had  its 
leaders — men  of  genius,  magicians,  priests,  pos- 
sessing wise  or  occult  fang,  expedients  or  methods, 
of  defense  or  attack,  self-invented,  or  inherited 
from  older  generations;  expedients  by  which 
specters  may  be  paralyzed,  put  to  flight,  or  even 
destroyed  or  killed.  A  study  of  those  means  is  a 
study  in  natural  philosophy  and  popular  intellect, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  study  in  the  boundless  sway 
which  superstition  exercises  on  all  minds  in  the 
Flowery  Kingdom,  from  that  of  the  most  unlearned 
man  in  the  street  up  to  ministers  and  emperors. 


36  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

Specters  being  also  the  chief  causes  of  disease 
and  plague,  their  ejection  or  expulsion  always  was 
a  prominent  element  in  the  healing  art.  Exercis- 
ing magic  for  medical  and  other  ends  is  no  doubt 
very  old  in  China,  probably  not  much  younger  than 
the  belief  in  specters,  which  is  almost  equivalent  to 
saying  that  it  is  nearly  as  old  as  the  people  itself. 
In  writings  of  the  Han  dynasty  (206  B.C.-22O  A.D.), 
or  relating  to  that  period,  we  find  quite  an  abun- 
dance of  details  on  the  subject. 

The  great  war  against  specters  has,  of  course, 
always  been  conducted  on  the  main  principle  that 
the  world  of  specters  belongs  to  the  Yin,  so  that 
the  most  efficacious  weapons  against  it  are  derived 
from  the  Yang,  the  warming  and  luminous  half  of 
the  universe.  The  sun  is  the  chief  active  part  of 
the  Yang,  and  therefore  the  principal  expeller  and 
destroyer  of  demons;  therefore  it  is  at  night,  espe- 
cially in  the  midnight  hour,  that  the  demon  world 
reigns  supreme  and  specters  freely  prowl;  and  at 
dawn  that  they  flee.  It  is  cock-crow  which  sum- 
mons them  to  retire,  and  the  lines  of  Shakespeare 
have  not  been  written  for  Europe  only: 

"The  cock,  that  is  the  trumpet  to  the  morn, 
Doth  with  his  lofty  and  shrill-sounding  throat 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  37 

Awake  the  God  of  Day,  and,  at  his  warning, 
Whether  in  sea  or  fire,  in  earth  or  air, 
The  extravagant  and  erring  spirit  hies 
To  his  confine. "    .  .  . 

No  wonder  then  that  if  in  China  any  one  sud- 
denly swoons,  being  seized  by  apoplexy,  or,  as  the 
Chinese  say,  by  a  devil,  blood  of  a  cock  is  as  soon 
as  possible  smeared  under  his  heart.  The  head  of 
the  solar  bird  is  attached  to  houses  in  times  of 
plague,  to  avert  the  specters  which  cause  this 
calamity.  Earthenware  cocks  are  placed  on  house- 
tops. Especially  on  New  Year's  day,  which  marks 
the  beginning  of  spring  and  therefore  the  opening 
of  the  yearly  victorious  campaign  of  the  Yang 
against  the  Yin,  images  of  cocks  are  fixed  to  doors, 
to  defend  the  house  for  the  whole  year.  At  that 
season  in  many  parts  of  China  the  bird  is  not  eaten 
for  a  few  days.  In  general  it  holds  a  high  position 
in  medical  art;  its  bones,  flesh,  blood,  gall,  spleen, 
etc.,  are  often  mixed  in  exorcising  medicines. 

The  triumphal  progress  of  the  Yang  in  early 
spring  is  characterized  by  the  flowering  of  the 
peach.  Therefore  this  tree  and  the  red,  brilliant 
color  of  its  blossoms  represent  the  destruction  of 
the  Yin  or  winter,  and  the  spectral  world  which  is 


^f 


38  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

identified  with  it.  Therefore,  from  the  oldest  times 
to  this  day,  branches,  boards,  and  human  images  of 
peach  wood  have  been  fixed  on  New  Year's  day  to 
doors  and  gates.  At  present  those  things  are 
replaced  by  sheets  of  red  paper,  which  nobody 
who  has  set  foot  on  Chinese  soil  can  have  failed 
to  notice.  J^ed*.  in  consequence,  is  under  all  cir- 
cumstances a  color  expressing  felicity,  seeing  that 
felicity  consists  in  destruction  of  specters,  the 
enemies  of  human  welfare.  The  peach  tree  and 
its  fruit  play  a  foremost  part  in  Chinese  pharma- 
cology,  a  part  not  less  important  than  that  of  the 
cock. 

The  same  story  repeats  itself  with  respect  to  the 
tiger,  an  animal  associated  for  some  hazy  reasons 
with  the  sun;  its  teeth  and  claws  are  worn  as 
powerful  protective  amulets.  Fever  patients  may 
cure  themselves  by  zealously  reading  tiger  stories, 
or  by  having  them  read  at  their  bedside. 

Light  and  fire,  actually  parts  of  the  great  Yang 
principle  of  nature,  are  as  destructive  to  the  demon 
world  as  the  Yang  is  to  the  Yin.  Bonfires,  torches, 
candles,  lanterns  are  used  by  the  whole  nation  as  a 
protection  from  evil;  they  are  especially  kindled 
and  lighted  at  the  commencement  of  the  year.  To 


THE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   SPECTERS  39 

increase  the  awe-inspiring  effect  of  bonfires,  pieces 
of  bamboo  were  in  days  of  yore  thrown  into  them, 
which,  exploding,  produced  a  crackling,  popping 
noise.  This  bamboo  was  the  prototype  of  tubes 
of  paper,  filled  with  gunpowder,  used  for  the  same 
purpose  at  the  present  day  in  enormous  quantities 
throughout  the  empire,  especially  about  New  Year ; 
foreigners  all  know  those  terrible  noise-makers  by 
the  name  of  "crackers."  By  extension  of  this  prin- 
ciple, the  conviction  reigns  that  all  noise  whatever, 
the  louder  the  better,  is  a  mighty  defense  against 
demonry.  The  rattling  of  drums,  the  clashing  of 
cymbals,  the  thundering  of  gongs  resound  through- 
out China  every  day,  especially  in  summer,  when 
mortality  increases,  compelling  the  people  to  re- 
double their  devil-expelling  energy.  Noise-making 
is  in  China  a  work  of  merit,  frequently  performed 
gratuitously  by  benevolent  people  for  the  sake  of 
private  and  public  weal  and  health. 

Smoking,  even  scorching,  patients  with  fire,  and 
cruelly  cauterizing  them  with  burning  charcoal,  or 
curing  them  by  circles  of  ashes,  are  in  China  the 
order  of  the  day.  Such  treatment  of  persons 
afflicted  by  demonry,  that  is  to  say,  especially  suf- 
ferers from  fever  and  delirium,  madmen,  idiots,  is 


40  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

a  queer  drama  of  every-day  occurrence;  spells  and 
curses  are  at  the  same  time  yelled  out  to  drive  the 
devil  out  of  the  patient. 

Processions  with  torches,  lanterns,  volleys  from 
firelocks  loaded  with  blank  cartridges,  concert  of 
crackers,  gongs  and  cymbals,  may  be  seen  passing 
through  the  streets  in  times  of  epidemic  for  the 
purification  of  towns  and  wards.  They  occurred 
as  early  as  pre-Christian  times,  being  mentioned  in 
classical  works,  and  were  celebrated  at  the  begin- 
ning of  every  year.  These  processions  are  very 
instructive,  showing  us  pagan  animism  in  full 
activity.  They  contain  men  and  boys,  and  even 
women,  masked  and  accoutered  as  gods  and  god- 
desses ;  for  gods  or  shen  are  Yang  spirits,  and  thus 
by  their  nature  destroy  or  drive  away  the  specters 
of  the  Yin.  Ahead  of  them  we  see  two  gods, 

named  Shen-tu  and  Yuh-lei,  who,  as  ancient  tradi- 

• 

tion  says,  have  arraigned,  fettered  and  condemned 
specters  under  a  peach  tree,  somewhere  in  the  south- 
east or  the  region  of  the  morning  sun,  and  have 
thrown  them  as  food  to  tigers.  Having  thus 
afforded  protection  to  the  human  race,  they  are  to 
this  day  invested  with  the  dignity  of  guardians  of 
houses,  and  are  fixed  in  effigy  to  gates  and  doors. 


THE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   SPECTERS  4! 

There  are  also  images  of  all  sorts  of  other  gods  in 
the  procession,  seated  in  dignified  attitudes  in 
palankeens. 

A  devil-expelling  procession  is  generally  organ- 
ized by  the  committee  which  administers  a  temple 
dedicated  to  the  tutelary  divinity  of  the  village,  or, 
in  a  town,  to  the  god  of  a  ward  or  parish.  It  is 
celebrated  and  repeated  with  an  animation  and 
waste  of  money  proportionate  to  the  cruelty  with 
which  the  plague-devils  do  their  terrifying  work. 
The  money  required  is  raised  by  means  of  sub- 
scription lists  among  the  villagers  or  parishioners, 
and  the  mandarins  are  expected  to  inscribe  their 
names  at  the  top  of  the  lists  for  no  small  sum.  As 
a  rule,  the  principal  god  of  the  temple  himself 
dictates  on  which  nights  the  procession  shall  go 
out  so  as  to  work  with  success,  as  also  through 
which  streets  it  shall  pass.  He  does  so  by  the 
mouth  of  a  man  into  whom  he  has  descended,  and 
who  indicates  this  possession  by  wriggling  about 
in  a  state  of  frenzy.  This  man  is  afterwards  seen 
in  the  procession,  because  the  specters  are  deemed 
to  be  afraid  of  the  god  who  dwells  in  him.  He  is 
then  garbed  in  nature's  raiment  of  bare  skin  to  the 
waist,  his  hair  flowing  down  disheveled,  in  a  state 


42  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

of  delirium,  proving  that  the  god  is  in  him.  Dag- 
gers are  deeply  implanted  in  his  cheeks,  or  in  the 
flesh  of  his  upper  arms,  so  that  much  blood  trickles 
out.  With  his  sword  he  deals  blows  around  him, 
cleaving  the  air  in  his  assault  on  beings  which 
nobody  sees  but  he.  At  times  he  looks  sleepy  and 
unconscious;  at  other  moments  he  hops  and  jumps, 
spins  around  and  rolls  from  side  to  side,  inflicting 
bloody  wounds  on  his  own  back  with  his  sword, 
or  with  a  wooden  ball  studded  with  sharp  iron 
points,  which  he  bears  by  a  cord  in  his  left  hand. 
Often  also  men  who  are  possessed  by  other  gods 
appear  in  the  procession,  all  behaving  in  the  same 
way.  One  or  more,  should  the  gods  have  ordered 
it,  are  carried  round  on  litters  which  rest,  by  means 
of  shafts,  on  the  shoulders  of  four  men,  and  the  seat, 
the  back,  and  arms  of  which,  as  also  the  place  on 

*  which   the   feet   rest,    are   armed   with   long  nails 
pointing  upwards,  so  that  they  stick  into  his  flesh. 

*  Or  such  a  litter  is  replaced  by  a  nail  bed,  on  which 
the  man  lies  stretched  at  full  length,  or  by  a  big 
chair,  the  seat,  back,  arms  and  foot  rest  of  which 
are   formed   of  parallel   swords,  on  the   edges   of 
which  the  body  rests  or  leans.     The  bleeding  men 
are   thus   carried   round   for  hours.     Occasionally 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  43 

there  may  be  seen  a  woman  among  them,  submit- 
ing  herself  to  the  same  disgusting  torment.  Nor 
is  it  uncommon  to  see  in  the  procession  such  a 
dervish  with  a  thick  needle  stuck  through  his 
tongue,  spitting  the  blood  on  sheets  of  paper,  which 
the  crowd  eagerly  seize,  deeming  them  to  possess 
the  devil-dispelling  power  of  the  god  who  dwells 
in  him.  Such  a  blood-charm  may  protect  a  whole 
family  if  it  is  affixed  to  the  lintel  of  its  dwelling. 

Should  the  plague  not  abate,  or  even  rage  with 
.increased  virulence,  the  processions  are  compelled 
to  augment  their  activity.  The  bearers  of  the  gods 
loudly  cry  and  scream,  and  now  and  then  actually 
break  into  a  gallop,  or  they  give  a  swinging  move- 
ment to  the  palankeens  and  their  holy  contents. 
Priests,  professedly  of  the  Taoist  religion,  in  full 
ceremonial  dress,  trot  up  and  down  in  the  train, 
expelling  the  specters  with  their  jingling  handbells, 
and  buffalo  horns  on  which  they  blow  at  intervals, 
while  ejaculating  exorcising  formulae.  They,  too, 
may  be  seen  giving  vent  to  their  fury  against  the 
specters  by  brandishing  a  sword,  or,  should  this 
instrument  too  long  have  proved  of  no  effect,  an 
axe.  The  clamor  of  gongs,  the  popping  of  crackers, 
the  buzz  of  the  crowd,  and  the  volleys  of  firelocks 


44  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

reach  the  apex  of  intensity,  especially  when,  more- 
over, blunderbusses  detonate  before  official  man- 
sions and  temples. 

A  long  train  of  some  hundred  notable  men,  well 
dressed,  bearing  smoking  incense  sticks  in  their 
hands,  fill  with  odorous  scent  the  road  of  the  gods, 
who  follow  in  the  rear.  They  mutter  an  exorcis- 
ing poem.  A  division  of  soldiers,  or  civilians  in 
military  uniform,  follows,  blowing  long,  specter- 
dispelling  trumpets.  Behind  them  comes  the  long 
row  of  palankeens  containing  the  gods,  each  of 
these  escorted,  as  if  he  were  a  living  mandarin  on 
earth,  by  a  retinue  composed  of  bearers  of  gongs, 
fans  of  state,  square  boards  inscribed  with  his 
divine  names  and  titles,  and  a  warning  to  the  pub- 
lic to  keep  a  respectful  silence  and  not  obstruct  the 
road;  there  are  also  policemen  with  whips  and 
rattaus  to  clear  the  populace  from  the  middle  of 
the  street,  or  armed  with  bamboo  laths  or  flogging 
sticks  of  daily  use  in  tribunals.  I  have  seen  pro- 
cessions extended  enormously  beyond  the  average 
length  by  many  hundreds  of  men,  each  bearing  a 
lantern,  the  god  having  ordered  through  the  mouth 
of  his  wu,  that  every  family  in  the  parish  should 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  45 

have  itself  represented  in  the  train  by  such  an 
object. 

The  field  of  exorcising  magic  is  so  long  and  so 
broad  that  quite  a  volume  would  be  needed  to 
describe  merely  its  outlines.  It  may  be  safely  said 
that  the  whole  of  China  is  in  arms  against  specters, 
with  swords,  even  with  swords  of  copper  coins 
bound  together;  and  furthermore  with  daggers, 
clubs,  spears,  bows,  arrows.  In  many  cases  such 
weapons  bear  devil-dispelling  sentences.  They  are 
to  be  brandished  over  the  sick,  the  faint,  and  the 
mad,  with  loud  yells;  in  obstinate  cases  even  axes, 
hammers,  and  mallets  are  swung.  Actual  thrash- 
ings with  such  objects  are  deemed  to  be  highly  salu- 
tary to  patients.  It  may  suffice  simply  to  keep  such 
weapons  in  the  house.  Weapons  are  especially 
appreciated  if  they  have  been  in  the  possession  of 
famous  generals.  Twigs  and  brooms  are  also 
esteemed,  and  so  are  mirrors,  it  being  believed  that, 
through  them,  specters  may  be  discovered  and  thus 
robbed  of  the  protection  afforded  by  their  invisi- 
bility. Counterfeits  of  all  those  things  of  reduced 
size,  especially  made  from  peach  wood,  are  gen- 
erally worn  on  the  clothes  as  amulets. 

The  Tao3  or  order  of  the  world,  represents  all 


46  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

that  is  correct,  normal,  or  right  (ching  or  twari)  in 
the  universe ;  it  does,  indeed,  never  deviate  from  its 
course.  It  consequently  includes  all  correct  and 
righteous  dealings  of  men  and  spirits,  which  alone 
promote  universal  happiness  and  life.  All  other 
acts,  as  they  oppose  the  Tao,  are  incorrect,  ab- 
normal, unnatural,  or,  as  it  is  especially  expressed, 
sie  or  yin.  It  is  clear  that  there  may  be  such  anti- 
natural  actions  as  well  among  men  as  among  spirits. 
They  are  all  detrimental  to  the  good  of  the  world; 
they  destroy  the  prosperity  and  peace  which  are  the 
highest  good  of  man;  and,  as  a  consequence, 
destroy  also  all  good,  beneficial  government;  they 
may  thus  endanger  both  the  world  and  the  throne. 
If  they  proceed  from  men,  they  ought  to  be  com- 
bated by  everybody  and  eradicated ;  it  is  the  natural 
duty  of  right-minded,  orthodox  rulers  and  states- 
men to  persecute  such  heresies,  and  even  the 
thoughts  and  sayings  which  produce  them;  the 
more  so,  as  they  may  be  detrimental  to  virtue  and 
morality,  but  for  which  humanity  cannot  possibly 
prosper,  nor  exist  for  any  length  of  time.  And 
when  such  things  proceed  from  bad  spirits,  a 
defensive  war  should  be  waged  against  them  by 
man,  either  with  or  without  the  help  of  his  good 


THE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST   SPECTERS  47 

spirits  or  gods;  they  should  be  fought,  repulsed, 
driven  away,  exorcised,  if  possible  annihilated,  by 
artful  expedients,  clever  magic. 

Which  now  are  the  kwei  which  commit  deeds 
contrary  to  the  Tao,  or  order  of  the  universe? 
They  are,  of  course,  those  which  perform  their 
wicked  work  without  authorization  or  consent  of 
heaven,  the  greatest  power  in  the  Tao.  Against 
them  alone  exorcising  magic  can  be  performed  with 
success — against  all  others  it  is  totally  vain,  and 
j  only  propitiation  of  heaven  by  sacrifices  and  masses 
can  afford  protection.  Exorcism,  in  other  terms, 
can  only  serve  the  good  and  the  innocent. 

From  this  great  doctrine  that  specters  may  be  in 
the  universe,  the  anti-natural  element,  representing 
whatever  is  abnormal,  another  principle  directly 
emanates ;  all  that  is  normal  or  correct,  or  responds 
in  every  respect  to  the  order  of  the  wrorld,  its  Tao, 
or  course,  naturally  and  necessarily  neutralizes  and 
expels  specters.  This  dogma  has  naturally  provided 
the  Chinese  with  some  of  the  best  weapons  for  their 
perpetual  war  with  the  demon  world,  namely  the 
classical  writings,  the  great  and  only  instruments 
for  maintaining  the  Tao  in  human  life  and  action. 

Since  the  Han  dynasty,  those  old  books  have  ever 


48  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

been  treated  by  the  government  and  the  most 
learned  men  of  the  nation  as  the  sole  guides  for  the 
Tao  of  man.  It  is  they  which  teach  the  Chinese 
people  the  opinions,  principles  and  polity  of  its 
first,  and  therefore  holiest,  ancestors,  who  better 
than  any  creature  knew  what  is  Tao,  seeing  that 
they  lived  during  the  formation  of  the  universal 
order  on  this  earth,  and  even  took  part  in  its  com- 
pletion. The  rules  of  logic  therefore  dictate  a 
slavish  adherence  to  these  books  as  bibles  for  in- 
dividual, domestic,  and  social  life.  But  for  this 
adherence,  the  fate  of  man,  which  is  absolutely 
dependent  on  his  accord,  in  life  and  behavior,  with 
the  order  of  the  universe,  can  be  nothirg  but 
misery,  wreck  and  ruin,  brought  about  through  the 
agency  of  the  kwei,  the  natural  authors  of  destruc- 
tion and  death.  It  is  then  the  classics,  together 
with  a  life  and  a  government  framed  on  them, 
which  afford  the  very  best  protection  against 
specters. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  nothing  in  this  world 
so  dangerous  for  the  national  safety,  public  health 
\*  and  welfare  as  heterodoxy,  which  means  acts,  in- 
stitutions, doctrines,  not  based  upon   the   classics. 
To  stern  Confucianists  it  is  indeed  a  dogma,  openly 


THE   STRUGGLE  AGAINST    SPECTERS  49 

preached  in  books,  that  the  introduction  of  Bud- 
dhism has  delivered  up  China  as  a  prey  to  the  demon 
world  and  all  its  evils;  and  I  need  not  say  that  all 
China  scorns  Christianity  and  its  preachers  for  the 
same  terrible  reason.  In  the  literal  sense,  the  mis- 
sionary in  China  unchains  the  devil  and  his  crew, 
with  the  ocean  of  woe  these  bring.  How  brilliant, 
how  glorious,  on  the  other  side,  stands  Confucian- 
ism with  its  scholars,  every  inch  of  every  one  of 
them  thoroughly  imbued  with  classical  learning  and 
perfection,  each  an  apostle  of  orthodoxy,  and  in  this 
capacity  a  pillar  of  the  Tao,  or  correct  order  of  the 
world.  Is  it  surprising  that  they  are  the  natural 
enemies  of  those  barbarian  disturbers  of  the  uni- 
versal order  among  men? 

And  is  it  surprising  also  that  Confucianists,  who 
thoroughly  study  the  classics,  are  beyond  the  reach 
of  evil?  Even  simple  schoolboys  and  students, 
especially  those  who,  as  most  of  them  do,  believe 
themselves  to  be  actual  or  future  prodigies  of 
classical  learning  and  scholarship,  believe  them- 
selves at  the  same  time  proof  against  demonry  of 
all  kinds.  And  mandarins,  recruited  from  among 
the  best  of  such  prodigies,  that  is  to  say,  from 
among  graduates,  and,  moreover,  actual  parts  of 
4 


50  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

the  machine  of  government  which  is  entirely  com- 
posed of  classical  principles  and  tenets,  are  of  all 
mortal  men  farthest  beyond  the  reach  of  demonry, 
unless,  by  neglect  of  duty  or  by  vice  or  evil  living, 
they  wander  from  the  great  path,  or  Tao,  so  that 
heaven  therefore  allows  its  specters  to  attack  and 
punish  them.  But  there  is  more  than  that:  from 
all  those  scholars  a  powerful  anti-spectral  influence 
emanates,  putting  the  worst  demons  to  flight,  even 
maltreating  them,  and  bringing  on  them  death  and 
destruction;  and  this  is  especially  the  case  with 
mandarins,  to  which  the  Son  of  Heaven,  who  is  the 
lord  and  master  of  all  spirits  in  heaven  and  on 
earth,  has  delegated  his  power. 

Hence  the  phenomenon  that  mandarins  often 
take  an  active  part  in  demon-expelling  processions 
and  other  exorcising  work,  especially  in  times  of 
epidemic.  The  stupid  confidence  of  the  people  in 
their  exorcising  capacities  goes  so  far  as  to  ascribe 
these  capacities  to  characters  or  signs  written  with 
red  ink  pencils  which  they  have  used  for  writing 
their  letters  and  decrees.  Such  pencils  are  fixed 
over  doors,  or  placed  on  the  sick  to  cure  them; 
underlings  in  tribunals  and  offices  sell  them  to  the 
people  and  to  shopkeepers  for  a  goodly  price,  as 


THE   STRUGGLE   AGAINST    SPECTERS  5! 

also  visiting  cards  of  mandarins,  impressions  of 
their  seals,  waste  envelopes,  and  so  on,  in  particular 
those  of  viceroys,  provincial  chief  judges,  and 
other  dignitaries  of  first  rank.  Such  things  are 
also  burned  to  ashes,  mixed  with  water,  and  given 
to  patients  to  drink.  The  poor,  who  cannot  afford 
to  buy  them,  content  themselves  with  those  of 
schoolmasters  or  other  members  of  the  learned 
class,  even  of  schoolboys;  or  they  invite  these  per- 
sons to  draw  small  circles  of  red  ink  around  the 
pustules  and  ulcers  from  which  children  in  all  parts 
of  China  so  commonly  suffer. 

I  have  said  that  classical  works  are  among  the 
best  weapons  in  the  war  against  specters.  Even 
the  simple  presence  of  a  copy,  or  a  fragment,  or  a 
leaf  of  a  classic  is  a  mighty  preservative,  and  an 
excellent  medicine  for  spectral  disease.  As  early 
as  the  Han  dynasty,  instances  are  mentioned  of 
men  having  protected  themselves  against  danger 
and  misfortune  by  reciting  classical  phrases.  But 
also  writings  and  sayings  of  any  kind,  provided 
they  be  of  an  orthodox  stamp,  destroy  specters  and 
their  influences.  Literary  men,  when  alone  in  the 
dark,  insure  their  safety  by  reciting  their  classics; 
should  babies  be  restless  because  of  the  presence  of 


52  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

specters,  classical  passages  do  excellent  service  as 
lullabies.  No  wonder  that,  according  to  tradition 
traceable  to  books  of  2000  years  ago,  the  specters 
wailed  at  night  when  holy,  mythical  Ts'ang-kieh 
invented  the  art  of  writing. 

A  high  rank  among  magical  exorcising  books  in 
popular  opinion,  in  fact  one  of  the  highest  posi- 
tions, is  assigned  in  China  to  the  almanack.  This 
has  its  various  reasons,  all  now  easy  to  understand. 
It  actually  is  a  classical  book,  as  the  principles  on 
which  it  is  framed  are  believed  to  date  back  to  the 
earliest  period  of  China's  existence.  Moreover,  it 
points  out  to  the  nation  the  proper  days  for  all  the 
principal  business  of  life,  and  also  the  days  which 
are  unfit,  unpropitious,  and  even  dangerous,  for 
performing  anything  of  importance, — in  other 
words,  it  teaches  man  on  which  days  his  various 
acts  are  in  harmony  with  the  Tao,  or  the  course  of 
nature,  which  is  the  course  of  time.  Thus  being 
the  compass  needle  which  shows  man  how  to  keep 
to  the  path  of  natural  normality,  the  sole  means 
of  insuring  happiness  and  welfare,  the  almanack 
is  diametrically  opposed  to  whatever  is  sie  or 
abnormal,  represented  by  the  spectral  world.  In 
this  respect  it  stands  exactly  on  a  par  with  the  clas- 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  53 

sics.  Finally,  with  the  special  object  of  keeping  his 
people  in  the  one  correct  Tao,  the  emperor  himself 
gave  the  almanack  to  them  in  days  of  yore,  and 
does  so  to  this  day,  and  we  know  that  whatever 
emanates  from  the  Son  of  Heaven  keeps  specters  in 
complete  subjection,  because  he  is  the  chief  and 
lord  of  them  all. 

No  house  in  China  may  be  without  a  copy  of  the 
almanack,  or  without  at  least  its  title-page  in 
miniature,  printed  on  purpose  with  one  or  two 
leaves  affixed,  as  a  charm,  in  accordance  with  the 
pars  pro  toto  principle,  and  sold  in  shops  for  one 
coin  or  cash.  These  charms  are  deposited  in  beds, 
in  corners  and  cupboards,  and  such-like  places,  and 
worn  on  the  body;  and  no  bride  passing  from  her 
paternal  home  into  that  of  her  bridegroom  may 
omit  the  title-page  among  the  exorcising  objects 
with  which  her  pocket  is  for  that  occasion  filled. 

Every  man  by  nature  is  a  demon  expeller, 
whereas,  as  I  have  stated  on  page  4,  he  himself 
possesses  a  shen  or  Yang  soul.  But  this  Yang  soul 
should  be  well  developed ;  in  other  words,  he  should 
have  vitality  or  health,  bodily  strength,  boldness, 
intellect,  and,  above  all  things,  moral  rectitude,  such 
as  heaven  possesses,  which  never  deviates  from  the 


54  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

Tao  or  right  order  of  the  universe.  A  virtuous 
man  is  beyond  the  attacks  of  spectral  influences; 
heaven,  indeed,  would  not  allow  its  specters  to  do 
him  any  harm.  A  weak,  languishing  person  is  con- 
tinually liable  to  disease,  which,  according  to  the 
Chinese  mode  of  thinking,  means  that  he  is  under 
the  influence  of  specters.  Whenever  sudden  attacks 
of  specters  are  feared,  as  in  specter  panics,  people 
crowd  together,  crying  and  shouting.  It  is  also  a 
common  trait  in  specter  tales,  that  whenever  any 
person  is  attacked,  one  man  running  to  the  rescue 
suffices  to  put  the  specters  to  flight.  Blowing  on 
the  sick,  the  swooned,  or  the  mad,  or  spurting  water 
on  them  from  the  mouth,  or  spitting  upon  them, 
preferably  in  the  face,  is  a  good  means  to  drive  out 
the  indwelling  specters ;  indeed,  breath,  being  warm, 
is  identified  with  the  Yang,  soul  or  shen  of  the  per- 
son who  exhales  it,  and  water  from  the  mouth,  or 
spittle  is  a  condensation  of  breath. 

Portraits  of  bold  men  of  former  times,  of  war- 
riors and  heroes,  are  much  used  as  charms  and 
amulets,  and  suspended  in  houses  and  temples. 
Tales  abound  of  such  men  who  assailed  specters, 
knocked  them  down,  and  killed  them.  Bold  men 
may  be  seen  to  this  day  doing  their  exorcising 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  55 

work,  their  long  hair  flowing  down  disorderly  on 
their  backs,  brandishing  swords  and  spears,  jump- 
ing and  shouting  in  the  most  awe-inspiring  way — 
we  should  say  behaving  as  madmen,  scolding  and 
reviling.  Not  seldom  they  wear  terrifying  masks. 
They  appear  also  in  funeral  processions.  Much 
might  be  told  of  historical  specialists  in  fighting 
specters,  most  of  whom  were  at  the  same  time 
endowed  with  the  faculty  of  seeing  specters.  To 
see  these,  they  used  magic  mirrors;  or  they  ac- 
quired their  second  sight  by  eating  certain  drugs, 
composed  for  instance  of  the  eyes  of  ravens,  onion 
seeds,  blood  of  certain  rare  animals,  and  similar 
hotch-potch,  which  in  China,  as  everywhere,  are 
integral  parts  of  the  system  of  magic. 

The  religion  proper  of  the  Chinese  nation  is  the  V 
Taoist  religion,  a  system  built  up  on  the  broad  base 
sketched  in  the  first  chapter,  namely,  the  doctrine 
that  the  world  is  ruled  by  shen  and  kwei,  or  gods 
and  devils  evolved  from  the  Yang  and  the  Yin,  the 
vicissitudes  of  whose  operations  constitute  the  Tao 
or  order  of  the  world.  As  a  system  of  religion,  it 
purports  to  muzzle  the  kwei,  and  stimulate  the 
operation  of  the  shen]  it  is  exorcising  polytheism. 
It  is  a  cult  of  all  the  gods  with  which  East  Asian 


56  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

imagination  has  filled  the  universe,  marked  by 
ritualism  and  magic  of  a  development  so  great  that 
its  match  cannot  be  found  in  this  world  of  men; 
and  this  magic  is  in  the  first  place  exorcism. 
Exorcism  is  the  main  function  of  Taoist  priesthood, 
which  performs  this  principally  by  means  of  charms 
and  spells. 

The  occult  power  ascribed  in  China  in  all  times 
and  ages  to  charms  and  spells  may  be  said  to  have 
no  limits.  It  puts  in  the  forefront  an  important 
tenet:  Words  are  no  idle  sounds,  characters  or 
pen  strokes  are  not  mere  ink  or  paint,  but  they 
constitute  or  produce  the  reality  which  they  repre- 
sent. And  whereas  any  desired  magical  effect  may 
be  expressed  in  word  or  writing,  charms  and  spells 
can  effect  everything. 

They  have  enabled  Taoist  and  other  priests  for 
ages  to  call  down  gods  to  their  altars ;  to  make  rain 
or  bright  weather,  thunder  or  snow.  They  are 
used  to  divert  or  annihilate  swarms  of  locusts,  to 
prevent  attacks  of  tigers,  banditti  or  rebels ;  to  ward 
off  conflagrations,  burglary,  theft;  to  deliver  souls 
out  of  hell,  and  raise  them  to  a  better  condition. 
Making  and  using  charms  and  spells  is  a  religious 
art  and  science  of  a  high  order,  causing  religion  to 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  57 

fulfil  its  highest  aim,  viz.,  the  promotion  of  human 
happiness,  as  well  in  this  life  as  in  the  life  hereafter. 
They  have  in  bygone  ages  enabled  many  a  man  to 
change  himself  into  a  beast.  To  this  hour,  simply 
by  being  fastened  up  or  burned,  they  rid  houses  of 
mice  and  vermin,  forests  of  venomous  snakes,  the 
air  of  mosquitoes.  By  the  hand  of  able  magicians 
they  may  be  changed  into  living  fish,  good  to  eat, 
or  into  any  species  of  animal,  voracious  or  veno- 
mous, calculated  to  wound  or  kill  the  magician's 
enemies.  Charms  may  enable  a  man  to  pass 
through  fire  unhurt,  to  sleep  on  the  bottom  of  a 
boiling  stream,  to  travel  over  thousands  of  miles 
and  back  in  a  minute.  Men  hidden  in  the  ground 
and  supposed  to  be  specters  have  been  killed  im- 
mediately by  being  worked  upon  with  charms,  and, 
the  mistake  being  discovered,  they  were  resuscitated 
by  means  of  contrary  charms.  In  short,  the  useful 
miracles  performed  every  day  in  China  by  means  of 
charms  are  endless. 

Mostly  they  are  cabalistic  characters  or  lines 
and  points,  written  or  drawn  on  paper  or  little 
boards,  intelligible  to  magicians  only.  The  effect 
of  religious  ceremonies  performed  by  Taoist 
priests  is  determined  by  the  charms  they  use  or 


58  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

burn  during  it,  most  of  which  are  directed  against 
the  kwei]  the  signs  they  bear  express  destruction 
of  specters  by  means  of  swords,  bows,  light,  fire, 
gods,  and  saints,  as  also  orders  given  to  specters 
to  flee,  or  to  gods  to  come  and,  by  their  mere 
presence,  destroy  specters.  They  generally  bear 
the  impress  of  a  seal,  because  a  written  order  or 
mandate  is  in  China  null  and  void  unless  it  is 
sealed.  More  powerful  than  any  others  are  the 
charms  which  have  been  bestowed  upon  mankind 
by  mighty  gods,  holy  men,  or  saints, — in  fact  the 
effect  of  any  decree  or  command  whatever  depends 
in  the  first  place  upon  the  power  of  the  being  from 
whom  it  proceeds.  Supremely  excellent  are,  of 
course,  the  charms  which  have  been  given  to  the 
world  by  Lao-tsze,  the  reputed  patriarch  of  Taoism. 
Charms  are  used  in  great  profusion  to  cure  the 
fever-stricken  and  the  insane,  as  well  as  others 
thought  to  be  the  victims  of  demoniacal  illness.  Such 
patients  are  given  water  to  drink  in  which  ashes  of 
charms  are  mixed,  or  over  which  mighty  spells  have 
been  pronounced  by  clever  magicians,  who  derive 
a  considerable  part  of  their  income  from  such 
medical  practices.  Or  such  water  is  sprinkled  over 
them,  or  throughout  the  room.  In  the  meantime, 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  59 

spells  are  loudly  vociferated  over  the  patient,  to 
compel  the  demon  to  depart ;  needles  are  thrust  into 
his  body,  cauterizations  are  applied  on  it,  swords 
brandished  over  the  bed. 

It  is  an  old  custom  to  accuse  the  Chinese  of  wor- 
shiping devils  and  sacrificing  to  them.  The  ac- 
1  cusation  has  been  disputed,  but  there  is  truth  in  it. 
And  no  wonder,  since  the  Chinese  are  inveterate 
worshipers  of  the  dead,  and  among  the  dead  there 
are  so  many  revengeful,  malicious  specters.  De- 
monolatry  is,  no  doubt,  a  necessary  element  in 
animistic  religion. 

Demonolatry  is  mentioned  by  Wang  Chung,  an 
author  of  the  second  century  of  our  era.  To  this 
day,  counterfeit  paper  money  is  strewed  about  in 
« all  burial  processions,  to  appease  the  evil  spirits 
which  might  roam  around.  In  case  of  the  illness 
of  husbands  or  children,  women  are  wont  to  sac- 
rifice to  the  specter  who  is  the  author  of  the  malady, 
generally  going  out  for  the  purpose  into  the  street, 
according  to  the  instructions  of  a  soothsayer. 
This  is  done  especially  when  the  specter  is  deemed 
to  be  an  earth  demon,  the  author  of  troubles  in 
pregnancy,  or  of  infantile  ailments.  Often  these 
specters  are  regularly  sacrificed  to  twice  in  each 


go  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

month,  on  the  second  and  the  sixteenth  day.  Many 
temples  contain  images  of  gods  of  so  low  a  rank  in 
the  divine  hierarchy  that  it  is  impossible  to  say 
whether  they  are  not  rather  devils  in  the  service  of 
gods,  for  the  dissemination  of  evil.  Such  beings 
are  worshiped  by  the  people  on  a  most  extensive 
scale.  Tales  abound  in  the  books,  in  which  specters 
are  depicted  as  harming  men  with  no  other  pur- 
pose but  to  force  them  to  offer  food  and  paper 
money  in  order  to  prevent  worse  evil.  These  facts 
show  that  demonolatry  may  even  attain  larger 
dimensions  in  China  than  is  generally  suggested. 

A  religion  in  which  the  fear  of  devils  performs 
so  great  a  part  that  they  are  even  worshiped  and 
sacrificed  to,  certainly  represents  religion  in  a  low 
stage.  It  is  strange  to  see  such  a  religion  prevail 
among  a  nation  so  highly  civilized  as  China  is 
generally  supposed  to  be ;  and  does  this  not  compel 
us  to  subject  our  high  ideas  of  that  civilization  to 
some  revision?  No  doubt  we  ought  to  rid  our- 
selves a  little  of  the  conception  urged  upon  us  by 
enthusiastic  friends  of  China,  that  her  religion 
stands  high  enough  to  want  no  foreign  religion  to 
supplant  it.  The  truth  is  that  its  universalistic 
animism,  with  its  concomitant  demonistic  doctrine, 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST   SPECTERS  6l 

<S 

renders  the  Chinese  people  unhappy;  for  most 
unhappy  must  be  a  people  always  living  in  a  thou- 
sand— a  hundred  thousand — fears  of  invisible  beings 
which  surround  the  path  of  life  with  dangers  on 
every  hand,  at  every  moment.  If  it  is  the  will  of 
God  that  man  shall  have  a  religion  in  order  to  be 
happy,  the  Chinese  religion  is  certainly  no  religion  /\ 
shaped  by  God. 


* 


CHAPTER  III 

ANCESTRAL  WORSHIP 

DESTRUCTION  of  evil  in  this  world  by  exorcising 
and  baffling  the  kwei  or  specters  of  the  Yin,  which 
are  the  authors  of  evil,  is,  as  my  preceding  two 
lectures  have  shown,  the  alpha  and  the  omega  of 
China's  religion.  I  have  also  stated  that  such 
neutralization  of  specters  is  effected,  except  by  a 
highly  developed  system  of  exorcising  magic,  by 
the  help  of  the  shen  or  gods,  the  powers  constitut- 
ing the  universal  Yang,  and  therefore  naturally 
opposed  to  the  Yin  and  its  specters.  Having  now 
given  an  idea  of  the  world  of  specters,  I  have  to 
tell  of  the  gods  or  shen,  their  exploitation  and 
worship. 

The  greatest  dogma  in  China's  theology  I  have 
already  mentioned:  the  number  of  gods,  like  that 
of  specters,  is  infinite,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
every  particle  of  the  immeasurable,  universal  Yang 
may  be  a  god.  We  thus  find  ourselves  before  an 
j  unlimited  polytheism,  standing  side  by  side  with  an 

62 


fi    UNIVERSITY    1 

ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  63 

X. 

unlimited    polydemonism.     Both    are    bounded    by 

nothing  but  the  circumstance  that  even  the  human 
art  of  inventing  gods  has  its  limits. 

The  shen  or  gods  naturally  form  two  distinct 
categories:  those  which  inhabit  human  bodies  or 
have  inhabited  them — the  souls  of  living  and  dead 
men — and  all  the  rest,  forming,  in  the  widest 
sense,  parts  of  the  universe.  In  effect,  each  mem- 
ber of  the  human  race,  since  he  has  a  shen,  is  a  god, 
and  each  god  may  become  a  man  by  descending 
into  a  human  body.  A  man  may  be  a  powerful  god 
if  the  shen  or  soul  which  dwells  in  him  be  powerful, 
in  a  flourishing  state ;  or,  we  might  say,  if  the  Yang 
substance,  composing  his  soul,  be  abundant.  In 
fact,  to  the  Chinese  there  is  no  question  at  all  that 
many  a  man  may,  for  this  reason,  exercise  power, 
over  the  gods,  and  bend  the  gods  to  his  will.  The 
means  by  which  he  may  do  so  are  numerous;  they 
may  be  comprised  in  the  terms  worship,  invocation, 
magic. 

Thus  man,  in  the  Tao,  or  natural  order  of  the 

world,  occupies  a  place  among  the  gods,  and  this 

I  place  is  higher  or  lower,  according  to  his  mental 

capacities.     Among    these    capacities    the    Chinese 

rank  in  the  first  place  virtue,  intellect,  knowledge, 


64  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

meaning  especially   knowledge   of  magic,   magical 
wisdom. 

V"  The  Chinese  mind  is  logical,  as  simple  pagan 
minds  generally  are.  Therefore  they  cannot  pos- 
sibly see  why  the  shen  or  divinity  existing  in  a  man 
during  his  life  as  his  soul,  breath,  or  vitality,  should 
necessarily  increase  in  power  after  his  death;  nor 
that  this  soul  should  be  invoked  and  worshiped 
exclusively  after  death  has  separated  it  from  the 
body.  There  exists,  in  fact,  naturally  and  logically, 
religious  worship  and  invocation  of  living  men. 
An  instance  of  it  is  mentioned  in  a  book  written 
as  early  as  the  fourth  century  before  our  era;  it 
refers  to  a  man  of  great  perfection,  worshiped  as 
a  local  divinity,  and  invoked  for  abundant  harvests. 
Instances  abound  in  Chinese  literature  of  altars 
and  temples  erected  in  honor  of  renowned  living 
men,  for  the  purpose  of  worshiping  and  pro- 
pitiating them  with  sacrifices  and  invoking  their 
aid.  I  have  myself  visited  in  1887  a  temple  in 
Chinchew,  in  Fuhkien,  erected  by  public  subscrip- 
tion for  Tso  Tsung-tang,  a  former  viceroy  of  that 
province,  removed  to  another  high  post.  His 
image  represented  him  in  a  sitting  attitude,  in  full 
official  dress.  I  also  saw  his  images  and  tablets  on 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  65 

altars  in  some  chapels  of  Buddhist  convents  in  that 
province.  Such  altars,  temples  and  images  are 
very  often  erected,  with  imperial  permission, 
formally  requested,  in  honor  of  mandarins  after 
they  have  departed  from  the  region  where  they 
have  gained  the  sympathy  of  a  grateful  people. 
Such  worthies  thus  continue  to  protect  those  peo- 
ple, even  though,  on  their  high  seat  far  away,  they 
themselves  are  not  aware  that  they  do.  Solemnly, 
every  year,  on  the  birthday  of  such  an  one,  the 
administrators  of  the  building  do  reverence  there, 
sacrificing  incense,  food,  spirits,  and  tea,  with  bows 
and  prostrations,  to  his  soul  residing  in  the  image 
or  tablet;  and  they  entertain  it  on  the  spot  with  a 
theatrical  performance  or  a  puppet  show. 

A  living  object  of  worship  throughout  the 
empire  is  the  emperor  who  is  actually  reigning. 
In  the  chief  city  of  each  province,  department,  and 
district  there  exists  an  official  building  with  an 
altar,  bearing  a  tablet  with  this  inscription:  'The 
emperor,  may  he  live  ten  thousand  years,  ten  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand  years";  dragons,  the  em- 
blems of  imperial  dignity,  are  carved  in  the  wood 
around  the  inscription.  On  his  birthday  and  on 
New  Year's  day,  as  also  on  the  day  of  the  winter 
5 


66  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

solstice,  he  is  worshiped  on  the  spot  by  all  the 
mandarins  of  the  place  conjointly,  with  great 
solemnity,  at  a  very  early  hour  in  the  morning. 
/  Do  not  believe  that  this  worship  is  not  idolatry;  any 
intelligent  Chinaman  will  tell  you  that  it  does  not 
differ  from  worship  paid  to  gods. 

Especially,  however,  men  are  worshiped  after 
their  death.  Worship  of  the  dead  is  a  logical, 
natural  continuation  of  the  worship  of  the  living, — 
in  the  first  place  of  fathers  and  mothers,  the  highest 
authorities  in  social  and  family  life.  The  pa- 
triarchal system  certainly  possesses  in  China  the 
highest  stage  of  development  which  it  has  any- 
where reached  on  the  globe.  It  places  the  child 
under  the  almost  absolute  authority  of  its  father 
and  mother,  so  that  it  has  to  pay  to  both  the  utmost 
amount  of  respect,  obedience,  subjection,  which 
China  has  in  all  time  expressed  by  the  term  hiao. 
It  forbids  children  ever  to  withdraw  from  that 
authority,  whatever  their  age  may  be,  and  this 
renders  secession  from  the  family  stock  exceptional. 
A  family,  as  a  consequence,  after  a  few  genera- 
tions, develops  into  a  clan,  in  which  the  patriarch 
or  matriarch  naturally  commands  the  highest 
authority  and  respect.  And,  just  as  naturally,  this 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  67 

hiao  is  converted  after  their  death  into  worship 
paid  to  them  all,  by  all  the  offspring. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  worship  of  the  dead  in 
China  is  worship  of  ancestors.  It  signifies  that 
the  family  ties  with  the  dead  are  by  no  means 
broken,  and  that  the  dead  continue  to  exercise  their 
authority  and  protection.  They  are  the  natural 
patron  divinities  of  the  Chinese  people,  their  house- 
hold gods,  affording  protection  against  specters, 
and  thus  creating  felicity.  Ancestor  worship  being 
the  most  natural  form  of  soul  worship,  the  fact  is 
also  quite  natural  that  we  find  it  mentioned  in  the 
ancient  classics  so  often,  and  in  such  detail  that 
we  cannot  doubt  that  it  was  also  the  core  of  the 
ancient  faith.  It  may  even  have  been  the  kernel 
of  the  nation's  first  and  oldest  religion.  The  an- 
cestors no  doubt  were  in  East  Asia  the  first  gods, 
before  mental  development  and  culture  had  caused 
that  part  of  the  world  to  invent  other  shen. 

This  cult  of  the  departed  commences  immediately 
after  decease.  It  assumes  various  forms.  In  the 
first  place,  that  of  a  scrupulous  care  expended  on 
the  washing  and  shrouding  of  the  corpse  by  the 
wife  and  children.  Costly  robes,  and  sometimes 


68  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

even  coffins,  are  during  lifetime  presented  as  gifts 
by  children  to  their  father  and  mother. 

Both  before  the  coffining  and  thereafter,  up  to 
the  seventh  day,  sacrifices  are  offered  as  well  to 
the  body  as  to  the  soul,  which  is  conceived  as  lin- 
gering near  the  spot.  Relatives  and  friends  who 
come  to  the  house  of  mourning  to  condole  with  the 
bereaved  family,  bring  their  offerings,  particularly 
paper  imitations  of  hollow  bars  of  silver  and  gold, 
which  are  burned,  and  thus  transmuted  into  silver 
and  gold  for  use  in  the  next  world.  Buddhist 
clergy  are  present  to  celebrate  in  the  house  of 
mourning  their  ceremonies  for  the  repose  of  the 
soul.  When  the  funeral  procession  emerges  from 
the  house,  the  mourners  offer  a  farewell  sacrifice 
on  the  premises.  In  the  case  of  a  high  dignitary, 
the  occupants  of  many  houses  en  route  prostrate 
themselves,  at  the  same  time  presenting  an  offering 
on  a  table,  while  the  procession  halts  for  some 
moments  at  the  spot. 

Very  considerable  also  are  the  outlays  made  for 
the  burial,  especially  if  the  deceased  was  the  head 
of  a  family  blessed  with  offspring,  rich  and  re- 
spected, or  endowed  with  a  high  position  in  the 
service  of  the  state.  In  the  official  ritual  prescribed 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  69 

for  the  state  religion,  detailed  directions,  based  on 
matter  in  the  classical  books,  are  given  for  the 
burial  and  funeral  ceremonies  of  emperors,  em- 
presses, and  members  of  the  imperial  house,  of 
mandarins  of  the  nine  classes,  of  the  upper  classes 
and  common  citizens.  There  are  in  that  ritual  also 
rules  laid  down  in  relation  to  the  sacrifices  which 
are  to  be  offered  to  the  departed  in  accordance 
with  their  various  social  positions  and  grades. 

Those  sacrifices,  which  are  wholly  classical,  are 
five  in  number.  The  first,  shortly  after  the  inter-  f 
ment,  is  offered  in  the  house  before  the  soul  tablet 
of  the  deceased,  and  subsequently  repeated  twice. 
Many  persons  extend  this  ceremony  with  Buddhist 
ritual  into  the  form  of  a  solemn  mass  for  the 
r  I  departed,  during  which  very  great  quantities  of 
silver  paper  and  other  paper  objects,  regarded  as 
of  actual  value  and  currency  in  the  next  world,  are 
burned,  and  thus  despatched  after  the  departed 
through  flames  and  smoke.  The  second  sacrifice 
follows  on  the  hundredth  day;  the  third  and  fourth 
on  the  anniversary  of  the  death,  and  the  fifth  on 
the  twenty-seventh  month.  This  final  sacrifice 
marks  the  termination  of  the  period  of  family 


7O  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

mourning.  A  sacrifice  is  thenceforth  offered  on 
each  anniversary  of  the  death. 

An  essential  part  of  this  cult  of  the  departed  is 
the  mourning  of  the  family.  In  the  classical  books 
and  in  the  official  dynastic  ritual,  five  sorts  of 
mourning  garb  of  sackcloth  or  hemp  are  prescribed, 
regulated  in  quality  of  material  according  to  the 
degree  of  relationship  of  the  wearer  to  the  deceased 
person.  No  doubt,  the  mourning  signifies  a  sac- 
rificial act  by  which  the  mourner  offers  or  devotes 
to  the  departed  his  good  clothing  and  valuables. 
Of  course,  the  custom  prevails  of  despatching  to 
the  next  world,  by  burning  at  the  various  sacrifices 
real  clothes  or  silks,  most  usually,  however,  great 
quantities  of  paper  imitations  of  them.  For  the 
neglect  of  the  period  of  mourning  severe  corporeal 
punishment  is  the  penalty  threatened  in  the  Code  of 
Laws. 

Besides  their  clothes  and  bodily  ornaments,  the 
children,  while  in  mourning,  devote  to  the  departed 
the  food  which  they  themselves  would  otherwise 
take;  that  is  to  say,  they  fast.  This  fasting,  too, 
is  an  ancient  canonical  institution,  and  it  is  clear 
from  several  passages  in  the  classical  writings 
that  the  fasting  for  the  dead  was  carried  out  with 


\ 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  JI 

the  severest  rigor  in  olden  days.  The  present  state 
ritual  prescribes  the  penalty  of  thirty  blows  with  a 
bamboo  for  any  participation  in  festive  meals  dur- 
ing the  period  of  mourning. 

Objects  of  value  and  of  daily  use,  such  as  silks, 
clothes,  books,  and  the  like,  as  well  as  foods,  have 
been  from  the  most  ancient  days  buried  in  the 
grave  with  the  dead,  especially  those  of  high  rank. 
In  process  of  time,  however,  imitations  made  of 
wood,  clay,  straw,  paper,  and  of  other  materials 
have  been  substituted  for  the  real  things;  and 
instead  of  placing  them  in  the  grave  with  the 
corpse,  they  are  offered  in  sacrifice,  and  burned  on 
the  grave  or  in  the  dwelling.  Bars  of  silvered 
papers  play  the  chief  part  in  these  ceremonies;  at 
almost  every  sacrifice  they  are  burned  in  great 
quantity.  Slaves  and  servants,  wives  and  concu- 
bines are  also  burned,  i.e.,  in  paper  imitations.  They 
point  back  to  the  time  when  actual  human  sacri- 
V  fices  were  the  custom.  In  fact,  in  writings  since 
^677  B.C.,  even  in  those  which  are  classical,  we  read 
statements  of  persons  who  have,  either  of  their 
own  free  will  or  under  compulsion,  followed  the 
dead  into  the  grave,  that  is,  accompanied  them  into 


72  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

the   next   world.      This    was   chiefly   done   in   the 
interment  of  princes. 

The  voluntary  suicide  of  widows,  committed 
with  the  idea  that,  as  the  body  is  laid  with  the 
husband's  corpse  in  his  grave,  the  soul  will  accom- 
pany him  into  the  other  world,  frequently  occurs 
to-day  in  China,  and  the  histories  prove  that  this 
custom  has  ever  been  an  ordinary  practice.  Very 
often  the  emperor  honored  widows,  thus  faithful, 
with  a  triumphal  arch  of  granite,  which  proclaimed 
their  fame  to  the  people  for  centuries ;  and  by  this 
means  many  another  wife  was  induced  to  follow  so 
excellent  an  example.  Moreover,  soul  tablets  of 
such  faithful  spouses  had  the  honor  of  being  re- 
ceived into  the  local  state  temples  as  those  of  women 

virtuous   in   the   Confucian  classical   sense.     It   is 
\ 

obvious  that  suicides  of  this  sort,  or  burials  alive, 

rest  on  the  idea  that  the  widow  is  the  property 
of  her  late  husband,  and  ought,  together  with  his 
other  treasures,  to  accompany  him  into  the  next 
world.  In  any  case,  widows,  should  they  shrink 
from  self-murder,  must  renounce  all  thought  of 
,  matrimony  for  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

It  is  only  natural  that  in  a  country  where  so 
much  emphasis  has  from  the  earliest  times  been 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  73 

laid  on  ancestor  worship,  the  graves  in  which  the 
souls  of  the  dead  repose,  as  well  as  their  bodies, 
must  always  be  objects  of  great  solicitude.  The 
erection  of  large  tumuli  for  princes  and  nobles 
was  ever  the  rule  in  China,  and  the  mausoleums 
built  for  emperors  and  princes  were  magnificent 
structures.  Those  of  the  present  ruling  dynasty 
certainly  belong  to  the  greatest  and  grandest  which 
the  hand  of  man  ever  produced.  Even  the  people, 
everybody  according  to  his  social  position  and 
wealth,  expend  on  their  graves  the  greatest  care  and 
much  money. 

Indeed,  the  abodes  of  the  dead  are  cared  for 
excellently  because  they  are  thought  of  as  the 
dwellings  of  their  souls.  Like  their  soul  tablets, 
their  graves  protect  their  posterity,  and  rule  their 
destiny.  On  this  ground  it  is  the  general  practice 
among  the  Chinese,  in  order  to  secure  their  own 
prosperity  and  wealth  and  the  well  being  and  hap- 
piness of  their  children  and  grandchildren,  to  choose 
the  graves  of  their  parents  in  such  way  and  in  such 
place  that  the  bodies  and  the  souls  may  dwell 
therein  under  the  good  influence  of  the  so-called 
fung-shui  or  "wind  and  water" ;  that  is  to  say,  of 
the  climate,  which  is  determined  and  regulated  by 


74  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

the  winds,  that  bring  rain  or  drought.  In  other 
words,  in  order  that  the  dead,  in  return  for  all  this 
care,  may  bestow  blessings,  their  offspring  choose 
resting  places  for  them  where  the  Taoy  or  world 
order,  which  creates  the  climate,  may  work  unhin- 
dered, and  may,  so  to  speak,  concentrate  its  energy. 
This  fetishism  in  reference  to  the  dead  is  as  old 
as  the  history  of  China,  and  exercises  untrammeled 
sway.  Doctors  versed  in  this  geomantic  wisdom, 
a  class  of  specialists,  apply  their  arts  not  merely  in 
the  search  for  lucky  spots  for  graves,  but  also  in 
the  building  of  temples  and  houses.  They  de- , 
termine  the  place  of  each  part  of  the  grave  by 
means  of  opcult  calculations  of  fortunate  conjunc- 
tions, grounded  on  various  factors  taken  from 
philosophy,  astrology,  and  chronology.  These 
fung-shui  professors  mostly  take  as  the  basis  of 
their  determinations  of  suitable  spots  for  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  living  and  the  dead,  the  forms  and  con- 
figurations of  the  hills,  the  windings  of  the  rivers 
and  brooks,  as  well  as  the  shapes  of  houses,  tem- 
ples, and  rocks;  in  short,  everything  on  earth, 
according  to  them,  may  modify  those  influences  of 
wind  and  rain.  Families  living  in  easy  circum- 
stances, are,  of  course,  bent  on  maintaining  their 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  75 

prosperity,  and  therefore  are  compelled  to  secure 
for  their  dead,  burial  places  upon  which  the  good 
influences  of  nature  concentrate  as  fully  as  pos- 
sible. To  this  end  they  must  consult  more  than 
one  geomancer;  each  of  these  men  thus  may  con- 
trol and  verify  the  decisions  of  all  the  others,  and* 
the  result  generally  is,  that  none  of  them  agree. 
To  all  of  these  sages  earnest  money  must  be  paid ; 
for  their  time,  and  for  their  numerous  excursions 
in  the  mountains,  they  must  also  be  compensated  by 
the  family.  There  certainly  is  not  much  exaggera- 
tion in  the  assertion  of  the  Chinese  themselves  that 
many  well-to-do  families,  unable  to  bridle  their  I 
passion  for  fung-shui,  are  either  ruined,  or  brought 
to  the  brink  of  poverty  by  geomancers. 

Pending  the  acquisition  of  an  auspicious  grave, 
the  deceased  parent  remains  unburied,  either  in  the 
house,  or  somewhere  in  a  shed  or  temple.  Al- 
though public  opinion  decries  long  postponement 
of  burial  as  the  height  of  unfilialness,  and  law  and 
government  threaten  it  with  severe  punishment,  yet 
these  three  mighty  factors  combined  stand  power- 
less in  the  matter,  and  regularly  every  year  thou- 
sands of  dead  are  deprived  of  a  timely  burial 
because  of  the  demands  of  fung-shui.  It  is,  of 


$6  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

course,  a  very  inconvenient  matter  to  have  to  keep 
a  coffined  corpse  at  home  for  a  long  time.  Most 
Chinese,  moreover,  firmly  believe  that  if  burial  is 
postponed  for,  say,  a  year,  or  longer,  the  corpse 
may  bring  evil  on  the  house.  Indeed,  even  the 
most  angelic  soul  might  be  naturally  driven  to  mad- 
ness if  so  long  deprived  of  all  chance  of  obtaining 
final  rest  in  the  tomb.  It  might  even  reunite  itself 
with  the  corpse,  change  into  a  kiang-shi,  and  kill 
n  the  inmates  of  the  house. 

\  A  kiang-shi  is  a  horrible,  ferocious  specter,  fond 
of  catching  and  killing  passers-by.  It  is  more 
malicious  than  any  other  specter  because,  having 
a  body  at  its  service,  it  possesses  more  strength  and 
vigor  than  other  disembodied  ghosts.  Kiang-shi 
are  obviously  parallels  of  the  living  corpses,  styled 
vampires,  which  during  the  eighteenth  century 

*  excited  the  whole  of  Europe,  and  were  believed  to 
leave  their  graves  to  prey  upon  the  blood  of  the 
living.  In  China  a  vampire  generally  breaks  out 
of  its  coffin  in  the  night,  as  the  powers  of  evil 
specters  are  paralyzed  by  daylight.  It  commonly 
kills  its  prey  by  sucking  its  blood,  a  proceeding 
which  it  completes  in  a  few  seconds.  Its  body  is 
covered  all  over  with  long,  white  hair,  and  its  nails 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  77 

are  exceedingly  long,  which  reminds  us  of  a  belief, 
also  prevalent  among  Europeans,  that  the  hair  and  V 
nails  continue  to  grow  after  death.     The  best  way 
to  render  a  kiang-shi  harmless  is  to  destroy  every- 
thing, coffin  and  all,  by  fire,  or  to  take  the  corpse   \ 
out  of  the  coffin,  and  fry  it  in  a  big  iron  pan.     It 
may  also  be  reduced  to  the  dead  state  by  belaboring 
it  with  a  broom. 

It  is  very  common  to  deposit  coffined  bodies,  for 
which  no  proper  burial  site  has  as  yet  been  found, 
outside  the  town,  in  small  cottages,  or  in  Buddhist 
temples.  There  even  exist  large  buildings  especially 
erected  for  the  purpose,  capable  of  holding  several 
hundreds  of  coffins.  Some,  built  for  coffins  of  the 
wealthy,  are  surrounded  by  lofty  walls,  loopholed 
for  musketry.  Indeed,  robbers  might  remove  a 
coffin,  and  hold  it  until  a  ransom  has  been  paid  by 
the  family  to  which  it  belongs;  so,  when  a  sus- 
picion of  anything  of  this  sort  is  entertained  by  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased,  armed  men  are  hired 
to  keep  watch  by  night.  In  such  cities  of  the  dead, 
Buddhist  priests  reside  to  perform  occasional  cere- 
monies for  the  repose  of  the  souls. 

I  Care  of  the  graves  of  illustrious  rulers  and  other 
persons  belonging  to  earlier  dynasties,  whose  pos- 


78  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

terity  has  died  out,  or  are  no  longer  in  a  position 
to  fulfil  this  duty,  is  undertaken  by  the  state,  and 
by  the  various  local  authorities  in  whose  official 
dominions  the  graves  lie. 

Worship  of  an  ancestor  lasts  as  long  as  there  is 
any  descendant,  or  until  the  memory  of  himself 
and  of  his  grave  is  lost.  Those  who  have  been 
long  dead  are,  of  course,  gradually  forgotten,  and 
their  cult  is  replaced  by  that  of  later  generations. 

The  ancestral  cult  is  regulated  in  the  state  ritual 
by  special  rescripts  for  all  classes  of  the  Chinese 
people.  Many  a  well-to-do  family  possesses  its 
ancestor  temple,  where  the  soul  tablets  of  its  older 
generations  are  preserved,  and  where  sacrifices  are 
offered  to  them.  In  the  dwelling  house,  the  spot 
in  the  principal  room  opposite  to  the  entrance  is 
set  apart  for  the  worship  of  the  latest  generations. 
Here  stands  a  high  table,  which  has  on  it  the 
tablets  of  parents,  grandparents,  and  even  of  still 
older  generations,  not  yet  removed  to  the  temple, 
side  by  side  with  images  of  other  domestic  gods, 
which  are  not  ancestors.  The  well-to-do  there 
have  shrines  for  these  tablets  and  idols.  A  table  in 
front  of  the  altar  serves  for  the  offerings  which 
are  presented  by  the  family  on  various  fixed  days 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  79 

in  the  calendar,  with  the  father  or  grandfather  at 
their  head. 

This    ancestral    worship,    sanctioned    and    regu- 

i 
lated  by  the   state  religion,  is  actually   conceived 

to  be  the  only  religion  the  people  may  have. 
Nevertheless,  the  people  carry  this  cult  to  much 
greater  lengths.  Everywhere  in  villages  and  in 
towns  they  have,  in  the  streets  and  in  squares, 
chapels  or  temples  built  for  the  worship  of  im- 
portant persons  who  have  either  actually  lived,  or 
are  regarded  as  historical.  Such  extension  of 
worship  of  the  dead  is  practised  also  in  the  religion 
of  the  state,  as  we  shall  see  in  Chapter  V,  else  that 
cult  would  continually  be  subject  to  the  danger  of 
being  declared  heterodox  by  mandarins,  and  for- 
bidden; and  the  temples  would  be  pulled  down  by 
them. 

There  are,  then,  for  every  man  or  woman  in 
China  three  altars  for  the  exercise  of  ancestral 
worship :  one  at  home,  one  on  the  grave,  one  in  the 
temple  of  the  clan.  The  grave-altar  is  of  bricks  or 
stone,  on  the  front  of  the  tumulus ;  only  graves  of 
the  poorest  description  have  none.  The  mausolea 
of  the  great  and  grand  of  this  earth  have,  in  front 
of  the  mound,  a  temple  containing  the  altar  with 


8O  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

the  tablet  of  the  soul  which  is  resting  with  the  body 
in  the  grave.  On  every  imperial  mausoleum  this 
building  is  of  exquisite  grandeur.  In  the  first 
months  and  years  after  the  burial  some  periodical 
sacrifices  are  offered  on  the  grave ;  later  on  there  is 
one  sacrifice  in  every  year,  in  spring,  in  the  Ts'ing- 
ming  season,  reserved  for  visits  to  the  family  tombs 
and  for  cleaning  and  repairing  these.  Thousands 
and  ten  thousands  of  people  living  away  from 
home,  then  undertake  long  journeys  to  attend  this 
important  feast,  but  for  the  proper  celebration  of 
which  the  fung-shui,  or  beneficent  influences  of  the 
grave,  would  not  work  properly  and  would  yield 
no  blessings  to  the  family.  In  the  imperial  family 
this  festival  of  the  tombs  is  observed  with  great 
pomp,  and  the  emperors  frequently  visit  the  maus- 
olea  in  person.  Of  course,  the  tombs  are  visited 
on  many  other  occasions  also. 

The  ancestral  temple,* too,  is  annually  visited 
many  times  for  worship  and  sacrifice.  The  chief 
day  is  that  of  the  winter  solstice,  when  nature  itself 
reaches  its  extremity  of  lifelessness.  Every  branch 
of  the  tribe,  whose  tablets  are  contained  in  it,  is  in 
duty  bound  to  attend.  The  visitors  wear  cere- 
monial dress,  or  the  best  garments  they  have  to 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  8l 

show.  The  so-called  Continuator,  the  oldest  male 
descendant  of  the  stock  or  trunk  of  the  tribe,  pre- 
sides. It  is  he  who  offers  the  food,  tea,  and  spirits 
arranged  on  the  altar.  He  is,  indeed,  the  high  priest 
of  the  clan,  its  pontiff,  chief  among  its  other  priests 
who  are  the  oldest  male  descendants  of  its  several 
branches,  and,  as  such,  each  the  owner  or  admin- 
istrator of  a  house  altar  with  tablets.  Patriarchal 

I  Jr 
dignity   thus   actually   means   in   China   sacerdotal 

dignity  for  the  worship  of  ancestors. 

Mencius  is  China's  second  great  philosopher,  in- 
ferior only  to  Confucius.  His  writings,  too,  are 
classical,  that  is  to  say,  are  reckoned  among  the  fun- 
damental codes  of  China's  government,  society,  re- 
ligion, and  ethics.  This  great  man  has  said :  "Three 
things  are  unfilial,  and  having  no  sons  is  the  worst." 
A  singular  dogma,  we  should  say,  which  stigma- 
tizes sonlessness  as  the  greatest  of  all  crimes  against 
parents.  But  it  does  no  longer  sound  strange 
when  we  simply  paraphrase  the  expression  thus: 
It  is  the  highest  duty  of  a  son  to  have  posterity 
who,  when  he  is  dead,  may  continue  the  worship  of 
parents  and  ancestors,  lest  this  holy,  religious  serv- 
ice come  to  an  end.  The  connection  of  ancestral 
worship  with  the  greatest  of  all  virtues  of  man  in 


82  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

China  could  hardly  be  more  vigorously  emphasized 
than  in  the  way  in  which  Mencius  did  it.  That 
famous  dogma  of  his  has,  to  this  day,  exercised  a 
mighty  influence  upon  Chinese  family  life.  It  has 
driven  the  nation  to  polygamy,  forcing  those  whose 
first  or  principal  wife  bears  no  sons,  to  take  a  con- 
cubine, in  order  to  procreate  sons  in  her  stead; 
these  children  legally  are  the  property  of  the  prin- 
cipal wife.  Mencius'  dogma  prompts  the  rich  to 
marry  more  than  one  concubine,  in  order  to  insure 
the  line  of  posterity  in  the  best  possible  way.  The 
dogma  has  also  created  a  system  of  adoption.  In- 
deed, for  him  who  has  no  sons,  notwithstanding 
marriages  with  a  wife  and  concubines,  it  is  a  sacred 

/duty  to  adopt  a  boy  of  the  same  tribe.  This 
adopted  Continuator  in  every  respect,  both  in  rights 
and  duties,  holds  position  as  a  genuine  son.  Theo- 
retically, this  system  prevents  every  family  from 
dying  out. 

It  is  ancestral  worship  which,  by  bestowing  on 

-man  the  protection  of  the  deceased  members  of 
his  family,  endows  him  with  wealth  and  prosperity. 
Therefore  his  possessions  actually  are  those  of  the 
dead;  indeed,  these  continue  to  dwell  and  live  with 
him,  and  the  laws  of  paternal  and  patriarchal 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  83 

authority  will  have  it  that  parents  are  the  owners 
of  everything  a  child  possesses.  The  wealth  of  the 
living  is  the  property  of  the  dead.  To  alienate 
it  is  theft  committed  from  the  dead;  national  cus- 
tom and  institution  consequently  forbid,  quite 
rationally,  that  any  goods  shall  leave  the  family  or 
clan ;  in  other  words,  that  any  daughter  having  left 
the  tribe  to  marry  into  another  according  to  the 
law  of  exogamy,  or  destined  to  leave  it  by  mar- 
riage, shall  inherit  one  farthing. 

We  have,  then,  to  consider  the  worship  of  parents 
and  ancestors  as  the  very  core  of  the  religious  and 
social  life  of  the  Chinese  people.  As  I  have  said, 
it  is  mentioned  in  the  ancient  books  with  so  much 
frequency  that  no  doubt  is  possible  that  it  was  the 
kernel  of  religious  life  as  early  as  the  oldest  his- 
torical, and  even  semi-historical  times.  In  the  sys- 
tem of  the  state  religion,  which  is  a  ritualistic 
development  of  all  things  religious  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  classics,  must  have  been  prevalent  in  old 
China,  ancestor  worship  prevails  as  the  sole  form 
of  popular  religion  recognized  by  the  state,  cor- 
rectly speaking,  as  the  sole  religion  which  the 
people  are  officially  entitled  to  have — all  the  rest 
is  heterodoxy.  It  is,  in  fact,  exclusively  for  this 


84  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

cult  that  ritual  regulations  are  laid  down  for  the 
people  in  the  dynastic  statutes. 

Being  thus  ineradicably  implanted  in  the  national 

/  mind  and  morals,  the  worship  of  ancestors  is  the** 
greatest  obstacle  to  the  spread  of  Christianity. 
Christianity — unless  it  overlooks  the  great  com- 
1  mandment :  "Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
me,"  that  is  to  say,  unless  it  ceases  to  be  Christian 
— cannot  possibly  tolerate  that  worship  among  her 
converts.  It  has  been  pretended  that  it  might  be 
connived  at  by  missionaries,  ancestor  worship  being 
merely  veneration.  But  this  is  all  affectation — a 
vain  attempt  to  reconcile  things  which  are  irrec- 
oncilable. The  truth  is,  that  the  dead  of  a  family 

'  '  actually  are  its  patron  divinities,  worshiped  and 
sacrificed  to  like  all  other  gods,  with  quite  similar 
incense,  spirits,  food,  and  dainties,  quite  similar 
genuflexions  and  khotaos,  all  with  the  plain  object 
of  obtaining  their  blessings.  The  truth  is  also,  that 
N/  ancestral  worship  answers  exactly  to  idolatry  and 
fetishism,  it  being  addressed  to  tablets  deemed  just 
as  well, as  images  of  gods  to  be  inhabited  by  the 
souls  of  those  whom  they  represent.  It  is  for 
Christianity  impossible  to  tolerate  ancestral  wor- 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  85 

ship,  almost  as  impossible  as  it  is  to  a  Chinaman  to 
renounce  it. 

To  renounce  it  would,  indeed,  mean  renunciation 
of  the  great  national  duty  expressed  by  the  word 
hiao;  it  would  mean  revolt  against  paternal  and 
patriarchal  authority,  which  imperiously  demands 
that  the  offspring  shall,  by  sacrificing,  protect  pro- 
genitors from  hunger  and  misery.  And  paternal 
authority  is  the  cement  of  social  life  in  China,  but 
for  which  dissolution  and  disorder  would  prevail. 
It  is,  as  such,  imposed  by  law  and  government 
upon  the  nation  as  the  foundation  of  morality, 
ethics,  and  politics; — to  sin  against  it  means  oppo- 
sition to  social  order,  to  the  state  and  its  laws — 
it  is  rebellion,  severely  punishable,  even  with  death. 
He  who  renounces  ancestral  worship  is,  in  fact, 
leniently  dealt  with  if  he  is  merely  treated  by  his 
family  as  an  outcast.  No  wonder  that  the  good 
Chinese  despise  and  decry  Christian  converts  as 
the  scum  of  the  nation.  Is  it  strange  also  that 
converts,  virtually  and  openly  turning  their  hearts 
away  from  the  worship  of  their  fathers,  are  rather 
phenomenal,  and  those  who  abstain  from  clandestine 
participation  in  that  worship  are  rare?  A  China- 


86  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

man  may  renounce  all  other  gods,  but  his  ancestors 
he  will  renounce  last  and  least  of  all. 

Allow  me  to  recapitulate:  it  is  in  their  role  of 
enemies  of  ancestral  worship  that  missionaries  show 
themselves  before  the  Chinese  in  the  most  hateful 
light;  as  preachers  and  apostles  of  heresy  of  the 
worst  kind.  They  are  struck  by  the  anathema  of 
Confucianism;  that  is  to  say,  in  the  first  place  by 
that  of  its  zealots  and  votaries,  who  are  the  learned 
class  imbued  with  the  dogmatism  of  the  classics ; 
further  by  that  of  the  mandarins  recruited  from 
that  class,  and  the  whole  imperial  government, 
solidly  based  on  the  doctrines  and  writings  of  Con- 
fucius and  his  school.  Christianity,  in  the  eye  of 
all  these  powers,  means  revolutionism,  enmity  to 
the  state,  to  society,  and  social  order.  There  is 
even  more:  as  the  classics  and  their  principles  are 
the  books  which  maintain  the  Tao  of  the  universe 
among  man,  and  therewith  human  happiness  and 
felicity,  missionaries  who  preach  against  the  wor- 
ship of  ancestors,  which  is  prescribed  by  those 
books,  are  revolting  against  the  universe  itself,  and 
against  heaven,  the  principal  power  therein.  Is 
there  a  greater  crime  imaginable?  Is  it  unnatural 
that,  when  attacks  are  made  on  missionary  estab- 


ANCESTRAL   WORSHIP  87 

lishments,  the  literati  and  even  the  mandarins  so 
often  are  the  secret  instigators,  or  at  least  connive, 
standing  in  the  background  as  silent  spectators? 

I  hope  I  have  pointed  out  that  the  predominant 
position  of  ancestral  worship  in  the  religious  and 
social  life  of  the  Chinese  is,  in  the  main,  resting 
upon  the  principle,  certainly  as  old  as  ancestral 
worship  itself,  that  this  worship  is  a  rich  source  of 
material  welfare  of  the  nation,  if  not  the  principal 
source  of  the  national  prosperity.  Certainly  there 
is  in  ancestral  worship  an  element  of  filial  piety, 
and  of  gratitude  toward  great  and  admirable  men, 
for  the  good  examples  which  they  have  set  to  the 
offspring.  But  just  as  certain  is  it  that  this  wor- 
ship perfectly  responds  to  our  conception  of  fetish- 
ism, being,  indeed,  worship  of  objects — tablets 
and  graves — on  account  of  their  supposed  anima- 
tion, and  with  the  object  to  obtain  from  them 
material  advantage  and  welfare.  We  may  call  this 
sort  of  religion  an  animistic  lottery,  always  very  ad- 
vantageous; some  food,  spirits,  paper  mock  money, 
houses,  and  puppets  of  paper,  are  the  stakes; 
the  prizes  are  material  blessings  a  thousand  times 
more  valuable,  bestowed  by  the  ancestors.  Where 


88  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

is  the  fool  in  China  who  would  refuse  to  play  for 
his  whole  life  this  enriching  wheel  of  fortune? 

More  value  ancestor  worship  seems  to  have  as 
an  ethical  element.  Indeed,  the  punishing  hand  of 
the  forefathers  is  always  present  on  the  house  altar 
and  in  the  temple  of  the  family;  will  not  it  deter 
many  a  son  or  daughter  from  evil?  Ancestral 
worship  certainly  strengthens  the  ties  of  family 
life,  as  it  chains  the  descendants  of  the  clan  around 
the  common  ancestral  altar.  It  thus  fosters  a  spirit 
K^of  mutual  help  in  emergencies  of  life.  Its  study 
will  throw  much  light  upon  the  mysteries  of 
Chinese  family  life  and  social  institutions,  upon  the 
formation  and  development  of  which  it  has  exer- 
cised a  most  powerful  influence. 


CHAPTER  IV 
CONFUCIANISM 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  treated  an  im- 
portant phenomenon  in  the  religion  of  the  East 
Asian  part  of  the  human  race :  the  elevation  of  man 
to  the  dignity  of  a  god  or  shen,  sometimes  before, 
but  principally  after  his  death.  I  have  shown  that 
this  phenomenon  is  a  logical  consequence  of  the 
great  universalistic  idea  that  man  is  animated  by  the 
same  principal  soul,  breath,  or  life  by  which  the 
universe  itself  is  animated,  namely,  the  Yang,  each 
part  or  particle  of  which  is  a  shen  or  god.  But, 
owing  to  that  same  universalistic  animation,  man 
is  not  the  only  god,  not  the  sole  promoter  of  felicity 
by  destroying  evil  caused  by  the  kwei  or  spirits  of 
the  Yin.  In  a  universe  actually  composed  of  gods  v 
and  specters,  eyery^parlLoLit,  every  powerjnarn- 
festing  itself  therein,  as  far  as  it  does  or  may  con- 
tribute to  man's  happiness,  is  a  god. 

The  greatest  god  is,  of  course,  the  heavenly 
sphere,  the  highest  ruler  of  the  Taof  or  order  of 
the  world,  being  itself  the  annual  revolution  of  the 

89 


90 


THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 


1  seasons,  of  production  and  life.  And  the  divinity 
second  in  rank  is  earth.  Principal  gods  also  are 
the  sun  and  the  moon,  by  which  TTe^verTbestows  its 
warmth  and  light;  furtfier  the  stars,  clouds,  winds, 
rain,  thunder,  and"  other  agents  of  heaven's  power 
and  influence ;  the  subdiwsions  of  the  earth  are  also 
gods:  mountains,  rivers,  seas.-  These,  side  by  side 
with  souls  of  deified  men,  compose  the  pantheon  of 
ChinaT~ 

They  and  their  worship  are  mentioned  in  China's 
/oldest  books,  the  classics.  We  know  (cf.  p.  48) 
thatJ;hese  works  maintain  the  Tao,  or  universal 
order  among  men ;  hence  everything  they  say  must 
be  adopted  as  law  for  the  guidance  of  government 
and  consequently,  those  gods  and  their  worship 
constitute  the  state  religion,  ancient,  classical, 
taoist,  orthodox. 

This  religion  is  generally  called  Confi^ian.     In- 

j  deed,  the  name  of_Confiicius  is  inseparably  asso- 

^  ciated  with  the  nine  classical  or  canonical  books. 

Certainly  he  did  not  write  them ;  they  belong  partly 

'  to  a  much  older,  partly  to  a  later  period.  vHe  is 

tield  to  have  written  merely  one  Jfcuigijjie  Ch'oon- 

tstiw,  three-other  kings,  called  the_Shu,  jarTRoofc 


of  History,  the  Shi,  or  Songs,,  and  the  Yih,  or  Meta- 


CONFUCIANISM  QI 

morphoses,  he  merely  compiled  or  edited,  and  even 
this  may  not  be  true.  In  the  books  which  con- 
stitute the  Li  ki,  he  and  his  disciples  are  mentioned 
so  frequently  that  this  classic  appears  to  have  been 
put  together  from  information  about  him,  and  from 
sayings  originating  with  himself.  And  the  remain- 
ing four,  called  shu,  or  books,  originated  almost 
entirely  with  disciples  of  the  sage ;  they"  contain 
sayings  and  conversations  of  their  master  mostly 
of  an  ethical  and  political  complexion. 

The  Chinese  empire  was  created  in  the  third 
century  before  our  era.  The  mighty  Shi  Hwang 
of  the  Ts'in  dynasty,  the  first  imperator,  destroyed 
in  streams  of  blood  the  cpmpl^x  of  feudal  states 
which  up  to  that  time  had* existed  ip  the  birthplace 
of  higher  East  Asian  culture,  in  the  homes  of  Con- 
fucius and  Mencius4  and  in  the  dominions  of  earlier 
sovereigns  and  sages  of  whom  Chinese  myths  and 
fancy  have  never  ceased  to  dream.  But  the  house 
of  Ts'in  did  not  last  long;  enough  to  organize  the 
great  creation  of  the  greatest  of  its  sons.  It 
collapsed  after  a  few  years,  giving  place  to  the 

w 

glorious  house  of  Han,  which  maintained  itself  and 
its  throne  till  the  third  century  after  the  birth  of 
Christ.  The  reign  of  this  dynasty  signified  the 


92  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

•permanent  triumph  of  classicism  or  Confucianism, 
find  (which  means  the  same  thing)  of  universalistic 
Taoism  or  taoistic  universalism.  In  organizing 
the  young,  enormous  empire,  its  statesmen  built  up 
a  political  constitution,  naturally,  formally,  and 
systematically  taking  for  their  guides  the  princi- 
ples, rules,  and  precedents  of  the  old  feudal  time, 
that  is  to  say,  the  ancient  literature,  in  so  far  as  it 
was  not  irrecoverably  lost  in  the  flames,  which  She 
Hwang,  in  a  frenzy  of  pride,  had  kindled  to  devour 
it.  With  a  view  to  the  completion  of  this  gigantic 
task  of  organization,  this  classical  literature  was 
sought  for,  restored,  amended,  commented  upon. 
Thus  there  arose  a  classical,  ultra-conservative 
state  constitution,  which,  handed  down  as  an  heir- 
loom to  all  succeeding  dynasties,  exists  to  this  day. 
The  religious  elements,  contained  in  the  classics, 
were  necessarily  incorporated  into  that  constitu- 
tion, together  with  the  political,  seeing  that  every 
single  thing  contained  in  the  classics  was  to  be  pre- 
served and  developed  as  a  holy  institution  of  the 
!  ancients, — in  other  terms,  those  religious  elements 
became  a  state  religion.  This,  as  a  consequence, 
is  now  fully  two  thousand  years  old.  Its  basal 
principles  are  unquestionably  older,  even  much 


CONFUCIANISM  93 

older  than  the  classical  writings  by  which  they  have 
been  preserved.  As  is  the  case  with  many  origins, 
that  of  China's  religion  is  lost  in  the  darkness  of 
antiquity. 

The  state  religion,  accordingly,  may  be  called 
classicism.  It  may  be  called  Confucianism,  uni- 
versalism,  or  Taoism.  It  may  be  called  canonical, 
and  orthodox,  for,  since  there  is  only  one  Tao,  or 
order  of  the  world,  and  one  set  of  bibles  or  classics 
promulgating  and  maintaining  the  Tao  among  men, 
all  other  religion  must  naturally  be  inconsistent 
with  the  universe  itself,  and  consequently  dangerous 
for  the  government  and  the  human  race.  Wisdom 
and  policy  thus  absolutely  forbid  all  other  religion 
and  religious  doctrine.  Indeed,  there  is  only  one 
means  for  ensuring  life  and  prosperity  to  mankind, 
and  this  means  consists  in  making  all  acts  conform 
to  nature  itself.  But  for  the  cooperation  and  bless- 
ing of  the  universe,  of  heaven  and  earth,  no  human 
existence,  and  least  of  all  a  flourishing  existence, 
is  possible.  Blessed,  therefore,  is  the  society,  the 
state,  which  submits  in  all  things  to  the  powers  of 
nature  by  conforming  implicitly  to  nature's  Tao,  or 
way,  its  course  or  progress,  that  is  to  say,  by  con- 
ducting itself  in  all  things  in  harmony  with  the 

\ 


94  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

classics.  But  woe  to  the  presumptuous  being  who 
ventures  to  do  anything  which,  even  most  remotely, 
can  be  considered  contrary  to  the  Tao.  Such 
audacity  would  mean  collision  with  this  supreme 
power,  a  collision  generating  evils  of  all  sorts,  and 
ending  in  ruin  and  destruction. 

Thus  the  Tao  represents  all  that  is  orthodox 
(ching  or  twan}  ;  it  embraces  all  correct  and 
righteous  dealings  which  are  in  conformity  with 
the  Tao,  that  is  to  say  the  li  or  rules  for  private 
and  social  life,  coupled  with  teh  or  morality  ethics. 
The  Tao  is  the  creator  of  all  these  good  things,  as 
it  is,  in  fact,  the  creator  of  all  things  whatsoever, 
produced  within  the  boundaries  of  heaven  and 
earth  by  the  motions  of  cosmos.  This  Tao,  the 
motion  and  motive  power  of  the  universe,  the 
order  of  the  world,  the  all-creator,  has  no  superior, 
even  no  co-equal.  Hence  there  is  no  room  for  any 
second  set  of  moral  rules.  And  if  by  any  chance 
other  morals  should  arise,  these  must  necessarily 
be  not  correct,  not  righteous;  but  heterodox,  and 
totally  wrong. 

As  a  consequence,  all  religion  and  ethics  not 
based  on  the  Tao,  that  is  to  say,  not  founded  on  the 
classics  or  bibles  of  the  Tao,  must  be  productive  of 


CONFUCIANISM  95 

evil  01  every  sort;  and  every  true,  right-minded 
Confucian  statesman  is  under  the  strictest  obliga- 
tion to  destroy  it,  root  and  branch,  wherever  it 
exists  or  crops  up.  He  has  to  destroy  it  in  the 
bud,  ere  yet  it  has  a  chance  of  producing  confusion 
within  the  original  li  and  teh,  the  only  classical 
rules  and  ethics  which  keep  man  in  thought,  word, 
and  deed  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  order  of  the 
universe. 

These  doctrines  afford  a  complete  explanation 
why  the  classics  are  the  only  books  which  have 
always  found  supreme  favor  among  sages,  scholars, 
politicians.  They  explain  why  the  classics  are  held 
to  be  the  basis  of  all  civilization  and  learning ;  why 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  teachings  is  the 
chief,  nay,  the  only  thing  required  in  the  world- 
famed  examinations  which  open  the  door  to  official 
preferment.  It  is  now  clear  why  the  words  scholar  S 
and  statesman  are  synonymous  with  Confucian. 
All  writings  outside  the  scope  of  the  classics  are 
either  neutral,  and  therefore  beneath  the  notice  of 
scholars  and  statesmen,  only  good  for  certain 
abnormal  minds,  bent  on  idle  occupation;  or  else 
they  breathe  another  spirit,  necessarily  heterodox, 
heretical,  morally  corrupting,  and  dangerous  to 


96  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

society   and    state,   together   with   all   usages   and 
doctrines  emanating  from  them. 

Dogmatism  is  always  and  everywhere  in  this 
world  the  mother  of  intolerance  and  persecution. 
Could  it  be  otherwise  in  China?  Certainly  not. 
|  For  here  we  find  the  school  of  Confucius,  in  close 
( alliance  with  the  state,  which  has  entirely  assimi- 
lated itself  with  it,  imbued  with  a  fanatical  ani- 
mosity against  everything  religious  and  ethical 
which  cannot  be  covered  by  the  idea  classicism; 
it  is  an  animosity  revealing  itself  in  the  extermina- 
tion of  such  teaching  as  lacks  the  stamp  of  having 
been  built  upon  the  foundation  of  these  sacred 
writings.  Crusades  against  such  false  doctrines 
are  preached  by  the  Shu,  the  holiest  of  the  classics, 
in  a  chapter  assumed  to  have  been  written  in  the 
twenty-third  century  before  our  era.  Confucius 
himself  has,  according  to  another  classic,  said :  "Oh, 
how  injurious  is  the  cultivation  of  heresy."  It  was, 
however,  Mencius  in  particular,  his  greatest  pupil, 
born  about  372  B.C.,  nearly  a  century  after  the 
death  of  the  master,  who  laid  upon  the  shoulders 
of  all  future  ages  the  duty  of  persecuting  heresy. 
We  read  in  the  classic  which  bears  his  name,  that 
he  vehemently  rebuked  heretics,  and  that  two 


CONFUCIANISM  97 

preachers  of  false  doctrine  in  particular  had  to 
bear  the  outburst  of  his  indignation:  namely,  Yang 
Chu,  a  partisan  of  selfishness,  and  Mih-tsze,  advo- 
cate of  universal  philanthropy.  Mencius  is  the  first 
sage  who  categorically  defines  heresy  as  every- 
thing which  diverges  from  the  teachings  of  Con- 
fucius and  still  more  ancient  sages.  Persecutors 
of  false  doctrine  to  this  day  have,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  been  the  literati,  including  the  mandarins, 
who  are  recruited  from  their  midst  by  means  of  the 
state  examinations;  indeed,  it  is  they  who  uphold 
government,  based  upon  the  only  true  Confucian 
doctrine.  The  common  people,  deprived  of  school- 
ing, are  free  from  fanatical  Confucianism.  They 
have  the  privilege  of  supplying  victims  and  mar- 
tyrs for  the  blood-drenched  altar  of  intolerant  offi- 
cialism. 

According  to  Chinese  logic,  and  the  immutable 
Confucian  doctrine,  it  is  as  sure  as  any  dogma  can  be 
that  government  is  peremptorily  bound  to  doom  to  ' 
death  and  destruction  all  religious  and  ethical  doc- 
trine which  does  not  bear  the  stamp  of  classical 
origin  or  approval.     The  classical  or  only  true  re-4 
ligion  consists,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  worship  of  f 
nature-gods  and  deified  men.     As  the  religion  of 
7 


98  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

the  state,  it  is  to  this  day  practised  by  the  emperor 
and  his  ministers  for  the  good  of  the  dynasty  and 
themselves,  and  for  the  welfare  of  the  people,  while 
the  people  may  only  occupy  itself  with  the  worship 
of  ancestors.  This  ancestor  worship  has  always 
.  been  exercised  in  the  domestic  circle,  needing  no 
religious  corporations  with  initiation,  doctrine,  or 
anything  to  mark  it  as  ecclesiastical  or  sectarian. 
Such  corporations  therefore  are  always  heterodox, 
and  in  the  eyes  of  the  state  have  no  reason  nor  right 
to  exist  Hence  it  is  that  the  state  vents  its  rage 
upon  them  with  scourging,  banishment,  strangu- 
lation. 

Thus   there   are   valid   reasons   for  the   Chinese 

t  state  to  persecute  Christianity,  which,  even  more 
than  native  sects  of  whatever  conviction  or  creed, 
saps  the  Tao  and  the  classical  religion,  even  going 
so  far  as  to  assail  ancestor  worship.  Islam  is 

^  equally   marked   out   for   persecution.     And   so   is 
Buddhism,  the  exotic  religion,  which  planted  itself 
V    in  the   soil  of  China  about  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era.     But  it  has  found  some  safety  in  the 
fact  that  it  has  always  respected  the  cult  of  ances- 
tors.    Indeed,  salvation  of  the  dead  always  was  the 
anchor  with  which  this  religion  secured  for 


CONFUCIANISM  99 

itself  a   safe  position   in  the   ocean  of  Confucian 
heathenism. 

Ancestor  worship  was,  in  China's  early  time, 
confined  within  the  family  circle;  it  was  performed 
without  any  church  to  surround  it  With  external  V/ 
pomp  and  ritualism,  or  to  regulate  it  by  means  of 
strictly  defined  doctrines.  Buddhism  came  to  fill 
up  this  deficiency.  Its  grotesque  tales  about  trans- 
migration and  future  life,  about  paradises  and  hells, 
were  eminently  calculated  to  work  upon  the  im- 
agination; they  charmed  and  fascinated  a  nation 
which  at  all  times  had  evinced  the  greatest  interest 
in  the  fate  of  its  ancestors,  and  to  whom  it  was 
not  a  matter  of  indifference  to  know  what  their 
own  fate  would  be  on  the  other  side  of  the  grave. 
The  new  religion  moreover  decorated  the  estab- 
lished worship  of  the  dead  with  an  elaborate  system 
of  ritual  and  ceremony,  even  with  magic  art  effect- 
ing the  deliverance  of  the  dead  from  hell  and  their 
admission  into  paradise ;  all  this  lent  to  it  a  cheerful 
character,  and  converted  it  into  a  work  of  blithe- 
some beatification.  Is  it  then  to  be  marveled  at 
that  the  Chinese  surrendered  their  hearts  and  souls 
to  the  priests  of  that  exotic  religion,  who  so  grati- 
fied their  tastes  and  instincts?  Thenceforth  Bud- 


IOO  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

dha's  clergy  made  it  their  regular  vocation  to  allay 
by  their  solemn  work,  the  sufferings  of  the  de- 
parted. Paradise  and  hell  were  its  key  to  open  the 
access  to  the  heart  and  affections  of  the  people. 

Tolerated  because  of  its  usefulness  for  ancestral 
worship,  nay,  even  patronized  for  this  reason  by 
many  dynasties  and  emperors,  Buddhism  was  only 
persecuted  and  hampered  by  severe  laws  for  the 
novelties  which  it  introduced  into  Chinese  society; 
especially  for  its  doctrines  of  abnegation  of  this 
world  or  asceticism,  and  for  the  monachism  born 
therefrom — alien  indeed  to  the  Chinese  classical 
period,  idea,  and  doctrine.  Its  convents  and  monks 
have  experienced  very  hard  times,  especially  since 
the  fifth  century;  these  times  were  brought  about 
by  a  reaction  against  the  progress  and  development 
which  had  naturally  marked  the  youth  of  the  church  ^v 
on  China's  soil.  But  we  shall  glance  at  this  sub- 
ject in  Chapter  VII.  Taoist  monachism,  built  up 
after  the  Buddhist  example,  to  meet  the  demands 
of  competition  in  the  field  of  religion  and  salvation,  / 
-was  also  persecuted.  But,  as  a  religion,  Taoism 
was  not  and  could  not  be  eradicated  by  Confucian- 
ism, seeing  that  it  was,  fundamentally,  Confucian, 
and  possessed  the  same  gods  of  nature.  Persecu- 


CONFUCIANISM  IOI 

tion  fell  with  especial  weight  upon  numerous  eclec- 
tic sects,  which  sought  perfection  and  salvation  by 
means  of  religious  elements  and  doctrines  borrowed 
in  part  from  Taoism,  but  from  Buddhism  in  par- 
ticular. Indeed,  Buddhism  always  was  the  great 
source  of  novelties  which  elevated  ancient  Con- 
fucian classicism  above  the  low  level  of  dry,  uni- 
versalistic  polytheism  which  was  evidently  unfit 
to  give  constant  satisfaction  to  simple  religious 
minds, — minds  plain  and  simple,  but  always  aspir- 
ing after  something  better  than  the  mere  worldly 
blessings  which  the  worship  of  ancestors  and  gods 
promised.  We  shall  treat  of  those  sects  more  fully 
in  Chapter  VII. 

We  may  then  define  Confucianism  as  a  system 
of  government  which  has  for  its  basis  everything 
contained  in  the  classics,  which  are  the  great  and 
^  I  only  jftrides  for  the  Tao  of  man,  embracing  also 
l|\\  the  principles  of  ethics  and  religion.     Indeed,  see- 
v  ing  that  the   contents   of  the   classics  have  to  be 
obeyed  and  practised  in  every  sense  and  in  every 
detail,  this  must  necessarily  be  the  case  also  with 
the  religious  elements  of  which  they  make  mention. 
Logically,  then,  there  must  be  a  state  religion  in 
China,  and,  logically  also,  this  must  be  classical. 


102  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

Another  necessary  consequence  is  that  this  religion 
is  the  only  true  and  orthodox  religion,  and  the  only 
one  which  the  state  may  tolerate. 

We  have  now  to  analyze  that  famous  religion, 
and  the  way  in  which  it  is  observed. 

I  have  already  said  that  its  divinities  or  shen  are 
heaven  and  earth,  and  several  parts  or  subdivisions 
of  these  two  halves  of  the  cosmos,  as  also  natural 
phenomena;  besides  souls  of  dead  men.  We  may 
then  define  the  Confucian  religion  as  a  mixture  of 
nature  worship  and  worship  of  the  dead,  or,  seeing 
that  the  souls  of  the  deacTare  also  parts  of  nature, 
wevniay  define  it  as  nature  worship  pure  and  simple. 

There  is,  indeed,  in  that  system  no  godbeyond 
nature,  no  maker  of  it,  no  Jahweh,  no  Allah. 

reation  is  the  spontaneous  work  of  heaven  and 
earth,  repeating  itself  regularly  in  every  year,  or 
in  every  revolution  of  time  or  the  Tao,  the  order 
of  the  universe.  Heaven  and  earth,  respectively 
chief  embodiments  or  representations  of  the  Yang 
and  the  Yin,  are,  ofjcourse,  the  highest  gods,  and 


heaven  is  the  higher  of  the  two. 

Because  the  emperor  stands  at  the  summit  of  the 
realm,  nay,  of  the  whole  earth,  he  is  the  head  of 


t  V 

ea 


CONFUCIANISM  IO3 

the  state^religion.  He  acknowledges  the  superiority 
of  heaven  only,  whose  son  he  is. 

Heaven  is  the  natural  protector  of  his  throne  and 
house,  which  would  inevitably  perish  if,  by  wicked 
conduct,  he  might  deserve  the  loss  of  heaven's 
favors.  If  then  heaven  is  the  supreme  power  of 
the  world,  and  the  emperor,  as  heaven's  son,  is  the 
highest  power  on  the  earth,  it  is  self-evident  that 
he  is  the  pontifex  maximus  of  the  state  religion. 

To  this  day  heaven  bears  in  the  state  religion  its 
old,  classical  nam^JCien,  heaven,  and  Ti,  emperor, 
most  commonly,  however,  Shang-ti,  supreme  em- 
peror. The  most  important  sacrifice  offered  to 
him  takes  place  on  the  night  of  the  winter  solstice ; 
indeed,  at  that  moment  heaven  is  reborn,  because 
the  Yang,  or  light  and  warmth,  which  it  represents, 
the  vitality  of  the  universe,  just  begins  to  increase. 
The  sacrifice  is  presented  on  the  so-called  Round 
Eminence,  Yuen-khiuf  also  known  as  Tien-tan,  or 
Altar  of  Heaven,  which  stands  to  the  south  of  the 
Chinese  quarter  of  Peking.  The  altar,  open  to  the 
sky,  is  composed  of  three  round  marble  terraces  of 
different  dimensions,  placed  one  above  the  other, 
all  provided  with  balustrades,  and  accessible  by 
marble  staircases,  which  exactly  face  the  four 


IO4  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

points  of  the  compass.  It  thus  represents  the 
celestial  sphere  with  its  cardinal  points.  At  the 
north  and  east  sides  of  it  are  buildings  for  various 
purposes.  A  wide  area,  partly  a  park  with  gigantic 
trees,  lies  around  this,  the  greatest  altar  in  the 
world.  This  area  is  surrounded  by  high  walls, 
affording  room  enough  for  a  town  of  40,000  or 
50,000  inhabitants. 

On  that  longest  night  the  emperor  proceeds  to 
the  altar,  escorted  by  princes,  grandees,  officers, 
attendants,  troops,  to  the  number  of  many  and 
many  hundreds.  And  many  hundreds  more  as- 
semble on  the  altar  to  receive  heaven's  son.  Every- 
body is  in  the  richest  ceremonial  dress.  The 
spectacle,  illuminated  by  the  scanty  light  of  large 
torches,  is  most  imposing.  Every  prince,  minister, 
and  mandarin  has  his  allotted  place  on  the  altar  and 
its  terraces,  or  on  the  marble  pavement  which  sur- 
rounds it.  On  the  upper  terrace  a  large  perpen- 
dicular tablet  is  placed,  inscribed :  "Imperial  Heaven 
— Supreme  Emperor" ;  it  is  in  a  shrine  on  the  north 
side,  and  faces  due  south.  In  two  rows,  facing 
east  and  west,  are  shrines  containing  tablets  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  emperor;  which  is  significant  be- 
cause it  shows  that  the  Son  of  Heaven  worships 


CONFUCIANISM  10$ 

heaven  as  the  oldest,  the  original  procreator  of  his 
house.  Before  each  tablet  a  variety  of  sacrificial 
food  is  placed:  soup,  meat,  fish,  dates,  chestnuts, 
vegetables,  rice,  spirits,  etc.,  all  conformably  to 
ancient  classical  precedent  and  tradition.  On  the 
second  terrace  are  tablets  for  the  spirits  of  the  sun, 
the  moon,  the  great  bear,  the  five  planets,  the 
twenty-eight  principal  constellations,  and  the  host 
of  stars;  furthermore,  those  of  the  gods  of  clouds, 
rain,  and  thunder.  Before  these  tablets,  too,  are 
dishes  and  baskets  with  sacrificial  articles.  Cows, 
goats,  and  swine  have  been  slaughtered  for  all 
those  offerings.  And  while  the  ceremonies  are 
celebrated,  a*  bullock  is  burning  on  a  pyre  as  a 
special  offering  to  high  heaven. 

The  emperor,  who  has  purified  himself  for  the 
solemnity  by  fasting,  is  led  up  the  altar  by  the 
southern  flight  of  steps,  which  on  both  sides  is 
crowded  by  ministers  and  dignitaries.  Directors 
of  ceremonies  guide  the  emperor,  and  loudly  pro- 
claim every  act  he  has  to  perform.  The  spirit  of 
heaven  is  invited  by  means  of  a  hymn,  accompanied 
by  music,  to  descend  into  the  tablet.  Before  this 
tablet,  and,  subsequently,  before  those  of  his  an- 
cestors, the  emperor  offers  incense,  jade,  silk,  broth, 


IO6  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

and  rice  spirits.  He  humbly  kneels  and  knocks  his 
forehead  against  the  pavement  several  times.  A 
grandee  reads  a  statutable  prayer  in  a  loud  voice, 
and  several  officials,  appointed  for  the  duty,  offer 
incense,  silk,  and  wine  on  the  second  terrace,  before 
the  tablets  of  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  clouds,  rain, 
wind,  and  thunder.  Finally  the  sacrificial  gifts 
are  carried  away,  thrown  into  furnaces,  and  burned. 

This  imperial  sacrifice  is  the  most  solemn,  the 
most  pompous  worship  ever  paid  on  this  earth  to 
a  divinity  of  nature.  It  is  also  interesting  for  its 
remarkable  antiquity.  It  is  attended  by  a  large 
number  of  musicians  and  religious  dancers,  per- 
forming at  every  important  tnntn^pj-  _ .  ^ 

In  the  same  vast  altar  park  there  is,  to  the  north 
of  the  Round  Eminence,  another  altar  of  the  same 
form,  but  of  smaller  dimensions.  It  bears  a  large, 
circular  building  with  dome  or  cupola,  the  only 
edifice  of  this  shape  and  size  in  the  empire.  It 

represents  the  vaulted  form  of  the  celestial  sphere. 

< 
This  is  the  ki  nien  tien,  or  temple  hall,  where  prayers 

are  made  for  a  happy  year,  that  is  to  say,  for  a 
good  harvest  throughout  the  empire.  Here  a  great 
annual  sacrifice  is  offered  by  the  emperor  to  heaven 
and  his  ancestors  in  the  first  decade  of  the  first 


CONFUCIANISM 

month  of  the  year.  And  to  obtain  seasonable  rains 
for  the  crops,  a  sacrifice  is  presented  in  the  same 
building  in  the  first  month  of  summer  to  the  same 
tablets,  as  also  to  those  of  rain,  thunder,  clouds, 
and  winds.  This  sacrifice  is  repeated  if  rains  do 
not  fall  in  due  time.  These  sacrifices  mostly  are 
performed  by  princes,  grandees,  or  ministers,  as 
proxies  of  the  Son  of  Heaven. 

The  ceremonial  for  all  other  state  sacrifices  is 
similar  to  that  for  heaven.  Pomp,  show,  and  offer- 
ings vary  with  the  ranks  of  the  gods,  and  so  does 
the  number  of  officials  in  the  suite  of  the  celebrant. 

Next  to  heaven  in  the  series  of  state  divinities  is 
earth,  ^^-tf}  Of  f m p 1' r p  ^  earth.  On  a  square, 
open  altar  of  marble,  built  within  a  vast,  walled 
square  outside  the  northern  wall  of  Peking,  a 
solemn  sacrifice  is  offered  annually  by  the  emperor 
or  his  proxy  on  the  day  of  the  summer  solstice. 
This  solstice  is  indeed  the  moment  in  the  annual 
revolution  of  the  Tao,  or  order  of  the  universe,  at 
which  the  earth  is  at  the  height  of  its  animation, 
owing  to  the  fructifying  power  of  heaven.  Here, 
too,  the  tablets  of  the  ancestors  of  the  emperor  are 
placed  on  the  right  and  left  of  that  of  the  earth. 
On  the  second  terrace  sacrifices  are  at  the  same 


-TV 

UNIVERSITY 


OIF 


IO8  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

time  offered  to  the  tablets  of  the  principal  com- 
ponents of  the  earth,  viz.,  the  chief  mountains, 
rivers,  and  seas. 

From  the  fact  that  the  emperor  at  the  sacrifices 
to  heaven  and  earth  allots  the  second  place  in  this 
ceremony  to  the  tablets  of  his  ancestors,  it  follows 
that  they  stand  in  the  system  of  the  state  religion 
next  to  heaven  and  earth  in  rank.  Sacrifices  are 
presented  by  the  emperor  to  those  ancestors  on 
various  fixed  days  in  the  calendar  as  well  as  on 
special  occasions,  whenever  he  deems  fit  or  useful 
to  invoke  their  aid  for  himself,  his  house,  or  his 
realm.  They  are  celebrated  in  the  ancestor  tem- 
ples of  the  dynasty  within  the  palace  grounds,  as 
also  on  the  imperial  graves  in  the  temples  erected 
there  in  front  of  the  grave  hills.  Each  ancestor 
or  ancestress  is  represented  in  those  buildings  by  a 
soul  tablet. 

We  have  mentioned  these  mausolea,  the  grandest 
of  all  structures  in  China,  and,  as  such,  chief  mani- 
festations of  the  respect  paid  there  to  the  dead. 
They  are  certainly  worth  the  attention  of  every 
student  of  China's  religion.  Notes  disseminated  in 
historical  books  entitle  us  to  infer  that  under  all 
dynasties  enormous  mausolea  have  been  erected  to 


CONFUCIANISM  log 

the  imperators  of  the  Far  East.  All  have  disap- 
peared, save  a  few  ruins  here  and  there;  those  of 
the  Ming  dynasty  still  exist,  though  in  a  deplorable 
state  of  mutilation  and  decay.  They  lie  in  Ch'ang- 
p'ing,  north  of  Peking,  except  that  of  the  founder 
of  the  dynasty,  which  is  situated  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Nanking.  Those  of  the  reigning  dynasty 
are  distributed  over  two  valleys,  one  group  in 
Tsun-hwa,  eastward  of  Peking,  and  therefore  called 
the  Eastern  Mausolea,  and  the  other  in  Yih,  near 
the  Great  Wall,  southwest  of  Peking,  called  on  this 
account  the  Western  Mausolea. 

An  imperial  tomb  consists  of  a  crypt  of  solid 
stone,  under  a  high  mound,  which  is  mainly  arti- 
ficial. A  tunneled  subway  forms  its  entrance; 
this  is  firmly  closed  by  a  door  of  stone  after  the 
burial  of  the  emperor,  and  probably  barricaded  in 
effective  ways,  never  to  be  opened  again.  The 
mouth  of  the  tunnel  is  at  the  foot  of  a  large,  mass- 
ive pile  of  brickwork,  in  fact  a  high,  square  ter- 
race with  crenelated  parapet,  bearing  a  square 
turret  double-roofed  with  bright,  yellow  tiles, 
through  which  turret  two  vaulted  tunnels  run 
crosswise.  In  the  center  of  this  cross  stands  the 
polished  marble  tombstone  which  bears  the  name 


IIO  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

of  the  emperor,  engraved  in  the  stone;  this  is  in 
fact  his  soul  tablet,  a  seat  of  his  manes.  A  high, 
crenelated  wall  completely  surrounds  the  hill.  In 
front  of  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  is  a  broad,  walled 
square.  It  contains  a  marble  altar-table,  some 
splendid  gates,  and  the  large  temple  for  the  im- 
perial sacrifices  to  the  soul.  This  edifice  is  raised 

on   a  rectangular  terrace  of  marble,  with  marble 

/ 

balustrades  and  flights  of  steps'.  Many  of  these 
temples  are  of  large  dimensions ;  precious  wood 
and  marble  are  lavishly  used  in  their  construction; 
masonry  and  woodwork  are  all  gaudily  colored. 
In  front,  each  temple  has  a  broad  courtyard,  closed 
by  a  gate  with  three  openings.  The  cost  in  money 
and  labor  of  every  mausoleum  must  have  been 
enormous ;  the  sums  become  fabulous  when  we  take 
into  consideration  that  there  are  five  imperial  tombs 
in  the  eastern  and  three  in  the  western  cemetery. 
Further,  there  is  at  a  little  distance  in  front  of 
every  mausoleum  a  high  and  large  pavilion  shelter- 
ing an  enormous  marble  slab,  on  which  a  eulogistic 
biography  is  carved.  There  is,  moreover,  a  long 
avenue,  lined  on  both  sides  with  gigantic  images 
of  unicorns,  elephants,  horses,  camels,  civil  and 


CONFUCIANISM  III 

military  ministers.  Each  image  is  a  monolith.  A 
lofty  gate  forms  the  entrance  to  this  avenue. 

And,  besides  these  tombs  of  emperors,  there  are 
in  each  cemetery  a  great  number  for  the  empresses 
who  died  after  their  husbands.  Those  who  died 
before  them  repose  by  their  side  in  their  crypts. 
Moreover,  there  are  special  tombs  of  inferior  con- 
sorts or  harem  ladies.  The  druidical  aspect  of 
those  grounds  is  enhanced  by  large  trees,  planted 
broadcast  between  the  tombs.  The  cemeteries  are 
entirely  surrounded  by  high  walls  with  parapets, 
respectively  about  twelve  and  eight  miles  in  length. 
Outside  each  there  is  a  vast  area  of  forbidden 
ground,  likewise  thickly  wooded.  No  doubt  we  do 
not  exaggerate  when  we  say  that  these  cemeteries 
are  the  greatest  and  grandest  that  have  ever  existed 
in  this  world  of  men,  the  greatest  monuments  of 
wprship  of  the  dead  ever  built  on  earth. 

The  imperial  house  also  has  two  large  cemeteries 
in  Manchuria,  one  near  Yenden,  the  other  near 
Mukden.  They  shelter  the  remains  of  the  oldest 
ancestors  of  the  dynasty,  who  never  were  seated  on 
the  throne  of  China,  but  in  honor  of  whom  they 
were  piously  built  by  their  descendants  who  wore 


112  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

the  crown.  They  seem  to  be  constructed  on  a 
more  modest  scale. 

The  grandeur  of  all  these  tombs  is,  of  course,  to 
a  very  great  extent  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are, 
by  their  fung-shui  (pp.  73  ff.)  cornerstones  of  the 
felicity,  power,  and  prosperity  of  the  imperial 
house. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  imperial  ancestors  in  the 
pantheon  of  the  state  are  the  Sie-Tsih,  or  gods  of 
the  ground,  and  of  millet  or  corn.  They  have  their 
large,  open  altar  in  a  park  to  the  southwest  of 
the  Tartar  city.  The  emperor  sacrifices  there  in 
spring  and  autumn,  or  sends  a  proxy  to  perform 
this  high-priestly  duty. 

These  are  the  so-called  Ta-sze,  or  great  sacri- 
fices. Next  in  rank  are  those  of  the  second  cate- 
gory, the  Chung-sze,  or  middle  sacrifices.  These 
are  presented  on  various  altars  or  temples  erected 
in  or  about  Peking.  The  sun  god  has  his  large, 
walled  park  with  round,  open  altar  terrace  outside 
the  gate  on  the  east,  or  the  region  of  sunrise;  the 
moon  goddess  has  her  square  altar  on  the  west, 
because  the  west  is  the  region  from  which  the  new 
moon  is  born.  Sacrifices  are  offered  to  the  'sun  by 
the  emperor  or  his  proxy  at  the  astrongniical  mid- 


CONFUCIANISM  113 

spring,  when  the  sun  conquers  darkness ;  the  moon 
receives  her  sacrifice  on  the  day  of  mid-autumn, 
autumn  being  in  China's  natural  philosophy  asso- 
ciated with  the  west,  where  the  moon  is  born. 

The  other  state  gods  of  this  middle  class  are  the 
famous  men  of  fabulous  antiquity  who  introduced 
the  Tao,  or  order  of  the  universe,  among  men,  thus 
conferring  on  them  the  blessings  of  civilization, 
learning,  and  ethics,  namely: 

Shen  Nung,  the  divine  husbandman,  the  em- 
peror who  taught  people  husbandry  in  the  twenty- 
eighth  century  B.C. 

Sien-ts'an,  or  first  breeder  of  silk  worms,  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  wife  of  the  emperor  Hwang 
in  the  twenty-seventh  century  B.C.  In  the  first 
month  of  spring  the  empress,  followed  by  a  great 
train  of  court  ladies,  presents  to  her  a  sacrifice. 

A  considerable  number  of  imperial  and  princely 
rulers  of  the  past.  The  five  emperors  of  the  oldest 
mythical  period  receive  special  reverence,  viz. : 
Fuh  Hi,  Shen  Nung,  Hwang-ti,  Yao,  Shun,  to- 
gether with  the  founders  of  the  house  of  Chen. 

Confucius  is  the  man  to  whom,  according  to 
!;  China,  mankind  owes  the  classics  which  enable  it  to  / 

I  walk  in  th^Top.     He  is  worshiped  together  with 

8  """* 


114  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

his  ancestors,  and  over  seventy  earlier  and  later 
exponents  of  his  doctrine  and  school,  all  of  whom 
have  tablets  in  his  temples  throughout  the  empire. 
State  deities  also  are  holy  men  and  women,  who  in 
the  course  of  the  centuries  have  been  distinguished 
for  Confucian  virtue  and  learning. 

The  Tien-Shen,  or  deities  of  the  sky,  that  is 
to  say,  of  the  clouds,  the  rain,  wind,  and  thunder. 

The  T'i-ki,  or  earth-gods,  namely  the  ten  prin- 
cipal mountains  of  the  empire,  besides  five  hills 
and  ranges  of  hills  which  dominate  the  site  of  the 
mausolea  of  the  present  dynasty  and  their  fung- 
shui;  further  the  four  seas  or  oceans  at  the  four 
sides  of  the  empire  or  of  the  earth,  and  the  four 
main  rivers  of  China,  viz. :  the  Hwangho,  the  Yang- 
tzse,  the  Hwai,  and  the  Tsi;  finally  the  mountains 
and  streams  in  the  neighborhood  of  Peking,  and 
within  the  empire. 

T'ai-sui,  or  the  great  year,  the  planet  Jupiter, 
whose  path  in  the  heavens  governs  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  almanack  which  is  annually  published 
by  imperial  authority,  and  gives  the  various  days 
considered  suitable  for  the  transaction  of  the  va- 
rious business  of  life.  This  god  thus  rules  the 
Tao,  or  revolution  of  the  universe,  and,  as  a  conse- 


CONFUCIANISM  115 

quence,  the  Tao  of  human  life,  which,  in  order  to 
bestow  happiness  and  prosperity,  must  fit  in  with 
the  universal  Tao. 

And  the  third  section  of  the  Confucian  state 
religion  embraces  the  Kiun-sze,  or  collective  sac- 
rifices. These  are  all  offered  by  mandarins,  to  the 
gods  in  the  following  list : 

The  Sien-i,  or  physicians  of  the  old  time, 
patriarchs  of  the  art  of  promoting  and  preserving 
human  health :  Fuh-Hi,  Shen  Nung,  and  Hwang-to. 

Kwan-yu,  the  war  god  of  the  present  dynasty, 
a  great  hero  of  the  second  and  third  centuries  A.D. 

Wen-ch'ang,  a  star  in  the  great  bear,  the  patron 
of  the  classical  studies  on  which  is  based  the  selec- 
tion of  state  officials,  who  by  their  rule  maintain 
the  Tao  among  men. 

Peh-kih  kiun,  the  prince  of  the  north  pole. 

Hwo-shen,  the  god  of  fire. 

P'ao-shen,  the  canon  gods. 

Ctiing-hwang  shen,  gods  of  the  walls  and  moats, 
that  is  to  say,  the  patron  divinities  of  walled  cities 
and  forts  throughout  the  empire. 

Tung-yoh  shen,  the  god  of  the  eastern  mountain, 
i.e.,  the  Thai-shan  in  Shantung. 

Four  Lung,  or  dragons,  gods  of  water  and  rain, 


Il6  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

for  whom  temples  exist  in  the  environs  of  Peking, 
apparently  for  the  management  and  regulation  of 
the  fung-shui  of  the  city  and  the  imperial  palace. 

Ma  Tsu-p'o,  the  goddess  of  the  ocean  and  water. 

Heu-t'n-shen,  or  god  of  the  ground;  and  Sze- 
kung  shen,  the  patron  of  architecture,  to  each  of 
whom,  before  any  building  works  are  undertaken, 
sacrifices  are  offered  on  altars  erected  on  the  site 
of  the  building. 

Yao  shen,  the  gods  of  the  porcelain  kilns. 

> 

Men  shen,  the  gods  of  certain  palace  doors  and 
gates  of  Peking. 

Ts'ang-shen,  the  gods  of  the  storehouses  of 
Peking. 

Many  of  these  state  sacrifices  are  also  offered  by 
the  authorities  throughout  the  provinces  on  altars 
or  in  the  temples  which  have  been  built  for  this 
purpose  in  the  chief  city  of  each  province,  of  each 
department,  and  of  each  district;  namely,  those  of 
the  gods  of  the  ground  and  of  millet;  those  of 
Shen  Nung,  Confucius,  of  the  gods  of  clouds,  rain, 
wind,  and  thunder,  and  of  the  mountains  and  rivers 
in  the  region  in  question;  of  the  gods  of  the 
walls  and  moats  of  the  city ;  and  of  Kwan-yu.  In 
Peking,  as  in  the  provinces,  there  are,  moreover, 


CONFUCIANISM  117 

temples  built  with  the  same  official  design  for  a 
great  number  of  historical  persons  who  have  ren- 
dered services  to  the  dynasty,  and  the  people. 
They  have,  on  that  account,  received  titles  of  honor 
from  the  emperor,  and  have  had  special  temples 
erected  to  them  in  the  places  where  they  lived  and 
worked.  There  are  also  similar  temples  for  former 
wise  and  faithful  princes,  nobles  and  statesmen ; 
for  men  who  have  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the 
service  of  the  dynasty,  etc. 

Lastly,  three  sacrifices  are  prescribed  to  be 
offered  annually  by  the  authorities  all  through  the 
empire  for  the  repose  and  refreshment  of  the  souls 
of  the  departed  in  general. 

Almost  all  state  sacrifices  take  place  on  certain 
fixed  days  of  the  calendar,  while  for  the  celebration 
of  the  rest,  days  are  chosen  which  are  indicated  as 
favorable. 

This  synopsis  of  the  state  pantheon  is  dry,  but 
instructive,  as  it  shows  the  truth  of  what  I  have 
stated  at  the  outset,  viz.,  that  the  Confucian  religion 
is  a  mixture  of  nature  worship  and  worship  of  the 
dead.  It  is  the  rule  to  represent  the  gods  who  are 
believed  to  have  lived  as  men,  by  images  in  human 
form,  and  the  others  by  tablets  inscribed  with  their 


X 


Il8  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

principal  divine  titles.  Images  as  well  as  tablets 
are  inhabited  by  the  spirits,  especially  when,  at  sacri- 
fices, they  have  been  formally  prayed  to  or  sum- 
moned, with  or  without  music,  to  descend  into  those 
objects.  Confucian  worship  and  sacrifice  then, 
being  actually  addressed  to  animated  images,  con- 
stitutes pure  idolatry.  Certainly  it  is  quite  incon- 
sistent with  the  Chinese  spirit  that  such  tablets  and 
images  are  mere  wood  and  paint. 

The  religion  of  the  state,  performed  by  the  Son 
of  Heaven  as  high  priest,  and  by  ministers  and 
mandarins  all  through  the  empire  as  his  proxies, 
is  thoroughly  ritualistic.  Since,  during  the  Han 
dynasty,  under  the  auspices  of  emperors  and  by  the 
care  of  illustrious  scholars,  the  classics  were  rescued 
from  eternal  oblivion,  an  elaborate  ritual,  based  on 
those  classics,  was  at  the  same  time  called  into 
existence  in  the  form  of  rescripts,  regulating  every 
point  in  the  state  religion  in  its  minutest  details. 
Subsequent  dynasties  framed  their  institutions  in 
general,  and  their  ritual  of  the  state  religion  in 
particular,  on  those  of  the  House  of  Han,  though 
with  modifications  and  additions  of  more  or  less 
importance.  Instances  of  eminent  statesmen  pre- 
senting memorials  to  the  throne,  in  which  they 


CONFUCIANISM 

criticized  rituals  and  proposed  corrections,  abound 
in  the  historical  works;  and  these  instances  prove 
that  formal  codifications  of  rites  have  always  been 
in  existence  since  the  reign  of  the  house  of  Han. 

These  codifications  have  for  the  most  part  been 
preserved  in  the  dynastic  histories,  but  it  is  not  pos- 
sible now  to  decide  whether  these  give  them  in 
their  entirety  or  in  an  abridged  shape.  None  of 
them  equals  in  elaboration  that  of  the  Khai-yuen 
period  (713-741)  of  the  T'ang  dynasty. 

This  vast  compendium  of  statutory  rites  is  a 
systematic  compilation  of  nearly  all  the  ceremonial 
usages  mentioned  in  the  classical  books,  with  a  few 
additional  elements  borrowed  from  the  House  of 
Han.  It  was  drawn  up  by  the  statesman,  Liao 
Lung,  assisted,  as  we  may  admit,  by  a  body  of 
officials  and  scholars.  It  has  been  the  medium 
through  which  the  most  ancient  religious  institu- 
tions of  China  have  held  their  place  as  standard 
rites  of  the  state  religion  to  this  day.  The  Ta 
Ts'ing  hwui  tien,  or  collective  statutes  of  the  great 
house  of  Ts'ing,  are  molded  on  it.  It  is  also  the 
prototype  of  the  Ta  Ts'ing  t'ung  li,  or  general 
rituals  of  the  great  Ts'ing  dynasty,  which  is  an 
official  codification  of  the  rites  proper  for  the  use 


X 


I2O  THE    RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

of  the  nation  and  its  rulers.  Therefore  whoever 
is  able  to  read  and  interpret  Chinese  texts,  has  it 
in  his  power  to  study  and  describe  the  state  religion 
from  official  printed  documents,  in  each  of  its 
details.  4 

The  conclusion  is,  of  course,  ready  to  hand,  that 
the  state  religion  is  instituted  for  no  other  purpose 
but  to  influence  the  universe  by  the  worship  of 
gods  who  constitute  the  Yang,  in  order  that  hap- 
piness may  be  insured  to  the  emperor  and  his 
House,  and  to  his  people.  ^JEt  is,  in  other  words,  a 
religion  purporting  to  secure  the  good  working  of 
the  Tao^or  universal  order,  thus  naturally  to  frus- 
trate the  workoi  the  Yin  and  its  specters.  Thus 
the  exercise  of  that  religion  is  reasonably  the 
highest  duty  of  rulers,  whom  nature  has  assigned 
to  secure  the  good  working  of  the  Tao  among  men. 
The  people  are  not  allowed  to  take  part  in  it,  except 
by  erecting  the  state  temples  and  altars,  and  keep- 
ing them  in  good  repair  at  their  own  cost,  and  by 
their  own  labor.  The  only  religion  allowed  to 
them  by  the  state  is  the  worship  of  their  own  an- 
cestors, which,  as  I  have  demonstrated,  is  classical 
and  Confucian. 

Yet,    as    everywhere    on    this    globe,    religious 


CONFUCIANISM  121 

instincts  in  China  go  their  own  way  in  spite  of 
official  rescripts.  Not  content  with  the  worship 
of  their  ancestors,  the  people  freely  indulge  in  the 
worship  of  Confucian  deities.  In  villages  and  in 
other  localities  they  have  temples  for  the  worship 
of  mountains,  streams,  rocks,  stones,  and  the  like. 
The  god  of  the  earth  in  particular  enjoys  much 
veneration;  on  all  sides  the  people  have  erected 
temples  or  chapels  and  shrines  to  him ;  they  regard 
and  worship  him  as  the  god  of  wealth,  and  the  pa- 
tron divinity  of  agriculture.  And  everywhere  do 
the  people  resort  to  certain  state  temples  in  the  chief 
towns  and  provinces,  departments,  and  districts, 
and  worship  the  idols  there  after  their  own  fashion. 
Besides,  the  people  worship  in  their  temples  all 
kinds  of  patron  divinities  whose  origin  it  is  often 
hardly  possible,  or  quite  impossible,  to  trace.  They 
are  generally  thought  to  have  lived  as  human  be- 
ings. There  are  gods  and  goddesses,  invoked  for 
the  cure  of  particular  illnesses ;  goddesses  for  safety 
in  child-bearing;  gods  who  impart  riches,  or,  be- 
stowing blessing  on  various  professions,  are  patrons 
of  the  callings  of  life;  in  fine,  a  multitude  of  idols 
who  bestow  every  possible  grace  and  favor,  because 
their  images  are  shing,  or  holy,  that  is  to  say, 


122  THE   RELIGION    OF  TITE   CHINESE 

because  they  possess  ling,  or  shen  ling,  spiritual 
power,  or  shen,  a  Yang  soul.  Daily  are  their 
temples  visited  by  great  numbers  of  persons  and 
pilgrims  from  all  quarters.  Considerable  sums  are 
collected  from  those  visitors  for  enlarging,  repair- 
ing and  decorating  the  buildings,  or  for  celebrating 
in  them  great  sacrificial  feasts.  This  fame  of  a  god 
may  last  for  centuries.  But  it  may  also  quickly 
disappear;  a  few  prayers  remaining  unanswered 
will  sometimes  suffice  to  destroy  its  fame.  And 
then,  as  a  result  of  the  ensuing  neglect,  image  and 
temple  quickly  fall  into  ruin. 

/  For  the  erection  and  repairs  of  such  temples, 
as  well  as  for  the  celebration  of  great  religious 
festivals,  the  people  who  own  them  willingly  give 
their  money.  The  local  authorities  usually  put 
down  their  subscriptions  to  such  purpose  in  the 
circulating  collection  books,  and  very  generous 
subscribers  are  the  committee  of  administration 
of  the  temple,  under  whose  direction  also  the 
festivals  are  celebrated. 

I  Gods  or  goddesses  are  placed  in  their  temples 
in  a  wooden  shrine,  facing  to  the  main  door.  Two 
or  more  tables  form  the  altar.  On  these  are  found 
wax  candles,  flower  vases,  a  pot  filled  with  incense 


CONFUCIANISM  123 

ashes,  in  which  the  worshipers  devoutly  place 
their  incense  sticks  which  burn  from  the  top  down- 
wards. These  they  present  at  every  invocation  and 
act  of  worship.  This  incense  fire,  and  the  ashes  of 
it  as  well,  are  supposed  to  contain  shen  or  soul 
matter  of  the  god,  and  are  on  that  account  con- 
sidered as  shing,  holy.  With  the  object  to  have 
the  divine  protection  always  about  them,  people 
wear  small  quantities  of  those  ashes  in  little  em- 
broidered bags  as  amulets,  or  place  a  little  in  the 
incense  burners  of  their  own  domestic  altars.  The 
ashes  are  even  taken  in  water,  as  medicines  and 
prophylactics. 

This  popular  religion  is  exercised  all  through 
the  empire.  The  images  of  gods  exist  by  tens  of 
thousands,  the  temples  by  thousands.  Almost  every 
temple  has  idol  gods  which  are  in  coordinate  or 
subordinate  rank  to  the  chief  god,  or  even  regarded 
as  its  attendant  servants.  They  are  placed  on  the 
high  altar,  on  side  altars,  or  in  side  chapels.  Inas- 
much as  the  worship  of  images  rests  on  their 
supposed  animation  and  they  derive  their  power 
from  this  fact,  it  is  throughout  a  form  of  fetishism. 

Large  idols  are  for  the  most  part  of  wood  and 
clay ;  the  small  ones  are  often  of  copper,  bronze,  or 


124  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

porcelain.  Ikons  painted  on  paper  are  worshiped 
in  great  numbers;  even  engraved  or  inscribed 
names  and  titles  of  the  gods  are  set  out,  like  soul 
tablets,  for  veneration;  in  short,  every  possible 
representation  of  a  god  is  considered  to  be  the 
abiding  place  of  his  soul,  and  therefore  identical 
with  the  god  himself. 

Also  for  the  mountains,  rocks,  stones,  streams, 
brooks,  which  the  people  worship,  images  are 
fashioned  to  be  the  homes  of  their  souls,  and 
temples  are  erected  to  them.  Horses,  camels, 
goats,  and  other  animals  of  stone,  principally  found 
on  old  tombs,  are  very  frequently  worshiped  and 
invoked,  and  to  this  end,  if  they  have  proved  to  be 
"holy,"  the  people  build  temples  or  chapels  beside 
the  spot,  with  or  without  images;  here  then  we 
have  fetishism  connected  with  animal  worship. 
Tigers,  fishes,  serpents,  etc.,  not  infrequently  have 
temples  dedicated  to  them.  This  animal  worship 
probably  is  connected  with  the  belief  in  meta- 
morphosis of  animals  into  human  beings  and  of 
human  beings  into  animals.  Trees,  like  animals 
and  other  objects,  are  supposed  to  be  living  abodes 
of  shen,  and  therefore  take  a  rather  important  place 
in  the  popular  religion. 


CONFUCIANISM  125 

The  temples  are  the  centers  of  the  religious  life 
of  the  people.  To  those  of  the  gods  which  are 
"holy,"  numerous  men  and  women,  young  'and  old, 
daily  resort  in  order  to  pray,  offering  incense  sticks, 
food,  and  dainties,  bowing  and  prostrating  them- 
selves before  the  images.  For  the  most  part  the 
visitants  expressly  mention  their  desires  and  make 
vows.  As  a  rule,  they  at  the  same  time  consult  the 
idol  by  means  of  two  semi-oval  pieces  of  wood  or 
bamboo  root ;  these  are  dropped  to  the  floor,  and 
the  answer  is  considered  to  be  affirmative  or  nega- 
tive according  as  both  flat  or  both  curved  sides  are 
uppermost.  Or  a  number  of  slips  of  bamboo  or 
wood,  on  which  different  characters  are  marked, 
are  placed  in  a  case,  and  one  of  them  is  drawn  out ; 
then  out  of  a  cabinet  fitted  with  several  compart- 
ments marked  by  the  same  characters  which  the 
slips  bear,  is  taken  a  ticket,  and  the  answer  of  the 
god  is  deciphered  from  the  enigmatic  sentences 
printed  on  the  latter. 

The  gods  to  whom  the  people  dedicate  temples 
have  their  feast  days,  fixed  by  old  custom,  on  which 
sacrifices,  called  tsiao,  are  presented  by  priests,  and 
dramatic  performances  or  puppet  shows  take  place 
in  their  honor  and  for  their  amusement.  Occa- 


126  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

sionally  on  such  days  solemn  processions  are 
arranged,  and  the  images  of  the  gods  are  carried 
round.  By  this  means  the  influence  of  the  specters 
which  haunt  the  ward  or  parish  is  destroyed  by  the 
gods,  while,  besides  this,  the  procession  offers 
opportunity  to  them  to  scatter  broadcast  their 
blessings  and  gifts. 

Great  feasts  of  this  kind  are  also  celebrated  at 
the  inauguration  of  a  temple,  and  when  considerable 
repairs  have  been  completed;  also  when  a  confla- 
gration or  flood  has  raged  in  the  parish  or  ward, 
or  an  invasion  of  rebels  is  to  be  feared;  further 
for  the  exorcism  of  swarms  of  locusts,  or  when 
drought  prevails ;  also  when  demons  of  sickness 
rage,  that  is  to  say,  when  an  epidemic  is  rife. 

For  this  main  branch  of  the  popular  religion 
there  exist  special  priests,  whom  the  classical  books 
and  works  of  later  ages  denote  by  the  name  wu. 
They  always  were  of  either  sex;  the  male  more- 
over bore  the  name  hih.  The  ancient  writings 
represent  these  priests  and  priestesses  as  able  to 
receive  the  departed  and  the  gods  into  their  bodies, 
so  that  they  could  bring  the  help  of  those  beings, 
produce  rain,  drive  away  evil  spirits,  and  utter 
oracles.  At  sacrificial  feasts,  in  virtue  of  their 


CONFUCIANISM  127 

possession,    they   were    in   a    position   to    find   out 
whether  the  objects  of  worship  occupied  a  higher 

,  or  lower  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  gods,  what  cere- 
monies as  a  consequence  ought  to  be  observed, 
and  how  much  zeal  ought  to  be  shown.  It  was 
generally  believed  that  through  those  priests  and 

"  priestesses  the  desires  of  the  spirits  and  gods 
could  be  discovered,  and  thus  by  satisfying  them, 
the  greatest  possible  blessing  and  fortune  might 
be  received  from  these  beings.  In  the  dynastic 
Histories  we  meet  at  all  periods  with  these  wu 
and  hih  as  curers  of  illness,  able  to  drive  away  evil 
spirits  also  from  the  sick.  They  are  found  to  this 
day  probably  in  all  parts  of  the  empire,  under 
various  names. 

Their  main  function  is  the  celebration  of  the 
tsiao  in  temples,  or,  on  special  occasions,  in  private 
houses.  Only  a  few  priests  are  now  able  to  admit 
a  god  or  soul  into  their  body,  and  so  to  reveal 
unknown  things.  At  the  temple  feasts  one  usually 
sees  specially  qualified  men  and  women  engaged  in 
this  work,  raving  in  mad  possession,  half  naked, 
hair  disheveled,  as  if  bereft  of  reason,  wounding 
themselves  with  swords,  daggers  and  sharp-pointed 
balls,  and  uttering  strange  cries,  which  are  inter- 


128  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

preted  by  those  who  are  held  to  understand  oracular 
exclamations  of  the  gods.  These  dervishes  are 
carried  in  palankeens,  or  on  chairs  studded  with 
nails,  the  points  of  these  sticking  deep  into  their 
flesh.  With  fork-shaped  twigs  likewise  they 
scratch  on  boards  or  tables  on  which  flour,  sand, 
ashes,  or  dust  have  been  scattered,  in  order  to  pro- 
duce written  oracles,  which  are  likewise  interpreted 
by  adepts. 

The  priests  are  married  men,  and  live  among  the 
laity.  As  a  rule  they  do  not  in  their  daily  life 
wear  any  special  dress,  but  when  they  exercise 
their  religious  functions  they  clothe  themselves  in 
ceremonial  garb.  They  are  fond  of  calling  them- 
selves Tao-shi,  or  Taoist  doctors,  and  like  to  be 
regarded  as  the  priests  of  Tao.  They  consider 
Lao-tsze,  the  patriarch  of  Taoism,  as  their  pro- 
tecting patron. 

The  exorcism  of  specters,  especially  out  of  the 
sick,  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  their  priestly 
duties.  And  by  the  use  of  magic  they  bring  back 
the  souls  of  sick  people,  which  demons  have  stolen. 
For  these  and  many  other  purposes  they  possess  a 
complete  repertory  of  rites,  prepare  and  sell 
amulets  and  formulae,  and  procure  blessing  and 


CONFUCIANISM 

happiness  by  dancing  movements.     Besides  all  this, 
many  of  them  are  soothsayers. 

The  religion  of  the  gods  is  also  exercised  by  the 
people  in  their  private  houses.  In  rooms  and  apart- 
ments, gods  and  goddesses  are  represented  by  small 
images  or  written  characters,  and  occasionally  wor- 
shiped and  consulted  with  a  polite  offering  of 
incense  and  tea.  In  the  better  class  of  houses  there 
are  images  of  gods  on  the  domestic  altar,  side  by 
side  with  the  ancestral  tablets.  Domestic  gods 
most  frequently  found  are  the  god  of  the  earth  or 
the  ground,  also  regarded  as  the  god  who  gives 
wealth  (p.  121 );  the  god  of  fire,  or  the  cooking 
stove  (p.  115);  the  Buddhist  goddess  of  mercy, 
Kwan-yin  or  Avalokltecvara]  and  a  patron  or  pa- 
troness of  the  calling  or  trade  of  the  head  of  the 
family.  Of  course  any  deity  may  be  chosen  as 
patron  divinity  of  the  house.  In  the  workshops, 
too,  there  are  representations  of  the  patron  of  the 
calling,  and  schools  have  images  of  Wen-ch'ang 
(p.  115)  and  other  gods  of  literature. 
/  On  one  or  more  days  in  the  calendar  of  every 
year  each  domestic  patron  god  receives  a  sacrificial 
meal,  which  is  offered  with  genuflexions  by  the 
members  of  the  family.  In  many  cases  they  give 
9 


I3O  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

by  a  dramatic  performance  or  puppet  show  a 
cheerful  air  to  the  ceremony.  There  are  also  days 
in  the  calendar  set  apart  for  the  worship  of  the 
whole  set  of  household  gods. 

On  numerous  special  occasions,  such  as  when  the 
house  has  been  newly  built  or  recently  occupied, 
and  the  good  fortune  of  the  occupants  needs  to  be 
assured;  or  when  ill-health  or  death  has  visited  the 
dwelling;  also  on  the  occasion  of  a  wedding,  in 
order  to  secure  the  bride's  fruitfulness  in  pro- 
creation; on  the  celebration  of  a  birthday  for  the 
continuance  of  long  life,  and  the  like,  well-to-do 
persons  engage  a  priest  to  celebrate  a  mass  at  their 
homes.  For  this  purpose  an  altar  is  erected  in  the 
principal  apartment  and  filled  with  images,  or 
names  of  gods  written  on  cards.  The  presence 
then  of  so  many  gods,  whose  hearts  rejoice  in  the 
offering  of  so  much  food  and  in  the  pleasant 
theatrical  performances,  fills  the  house  with  bless- 
ing and  goo'd  fortune. 

*  /•     The  great  thing  which  strikes  us  in  this  Con- 

\l  fucian   religion   and   its   popular   outgrowth   is   its 

thorough    materialistic    selfishness.     Promotion   of 

the  material  happiness  of  the  world  is  its  aim  and 

end.     As  a  religion  of  the  Tao,  it  is  practised  by 


CONFUCIANISM  13! 

the  emperor  and  his  government  for  no  other  pur- 
pose but  to  insure  a  good  and  regular  working 
I  order  of  the  Tao,  so  that  the  throne  may  stand 
mrm  and  safe.  And  by  the  people  it  is  diligently 
^observed  in  order  that  their  ancestors  and  gods 
may  give  them  protection  and  bestow  material 
lilessings.  There  is  in  Confucianism  not  a  trace 
01  a  higher  religious  aim,  and  I  think  that  this  fact 
suffices  to  define  it  as  a  religion  of  a  lower  order. 
EleVnents  of  a  higher  order  occur  only  in  the 
imported  Buddhist  religion,  which  Confucianism 
has  .persecuted  to  this  day. 


CHAPTER  V 
TAOISM 

IT  is  a  noteworthy  coincidence  in  the  history  of 
human  religion  and  civilization  that  the  epoch 
marked  by  the  life  of  Christ  and  the  establishment 
of  His  church  was  the  epoch  also  of  expansion 
of  religious  life  in  China.  We  have  seen  that  the 
ages  covered  by  the  reign  of  the  Han  dynasty,  or 
the  first  and  second  centuries  before  and  after 
Christ,  were  characterized  by  the  consolidation  of 
the  ancient  religious  ideas,  as  they  were  handed 
down  to  the  nation  by  the  classical  writings,  and 
that  the  Confucian  state  religion  was  the  product 
of  this  process.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  from  the 
same  epoch  dates  the  first  growth  of  Buddhism, 
the  apostles  of  which  had  already  found  their  way 
into  China  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  We  must 
also  note  that  this  period  gave  birth  to  a  third 
church  which  to  this  day  exists  on  Chinese  soil, 
namely  that  of  the  Tao,  generally  called  by  us 
Taoism. 

What  are  we  to  understand  by  this  term?  We 
132 


TAOISM  133 

must  define  Taoism  as  universalism — the  same  as 
that  which  I  have  mentioned  many  times — modeled 
and  developed  into  a  religious  system  containing 
the  principal  elements  of  heathen  religions  gen- 
erally. It  has  a  pandemonium  and  a  pantheonj 
both  composed  of  beings  which  actually  are  parts 
of  the  universe  or  its  two  souls,  the  Yang  and  the 
Yin ;  furthermore  it  has  a  system  of  exorcism  of 
devils  and  propitiation  of  gods,  conductedby  a 
priesthood  with  observance  of  a  ritual  highly 
developed,  created  to  a  great  extent  in  imitation 
of  Buddhism.  It  is  a  universalism  which  purports 
to  render  man  happy  by  such  exorcism  and  pro- 
pitiation, and,  moreover,  by  teaching  him  the  disci- 
pline securing  assimilation  with  the  Tao,  or  order 
of  the  universe. 

The  origin  of  this  universalism  is  hidden  in  the 
night  of  time.  The  t  Chinese  know  no  inventor  or 
founder  of  it.  They  can  only  refer  to  the  Yih  and 
the  Li  ki  as  the  oldest  classics  in  existence  in  which 
its  fundamental  dogmas  are  laid  down,  stating  the 
existence  of  aJTa0.j3r  universal  order,  which  mani- 
fests itself  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Yang  and  the 
_Yin.  or  warmth  and  cold,  light  and  darkness,  from 
which  all  natural  phenomena  are  derived  and  all 


134  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

life  is  created.  These  two  powers  constitute  the 
universal  Shen  and  Kweif  composed  of  myriads  of 
shen,  or  gods,  and  kwei,  or  devils.  They  animate 
men,  animals,  plants,  and  everything,  and  death  is 
reabsorption  of  the  souls  of  beings  into  that  Yang 
and  that  Yin. 

The  subdivisions  of  the  universe,  of  heaven  and 
earth,  were  the  gods  of  ancient  China,  and  are  the 
gods  of  China  to  this  day.  They  are  the  gods  of 
Taoism.  But  we  have  seen  that,  in  so  far  as  they 
are  mentioned  in  the  classics,  they  also  are  the 
gods  of  Confucianism,  or  the  state  religion.  Thus 
i  both  religions  have,  fundamentally,  the  same  pan- 
\  theon.  But  Taoism  has  greatly  increased  the  num-  ~ 
ber  of  gods  in  course  of  time,  owing  to  boundless 
vagaries  in  the  domain  of  cosmology,  astrology, 
.and  other  occult  sciences.  These  modern  gods  are 
all  false  from  a  Confucian  point  of  view ;  their  wor- 
ship is  heterodoxy,  yet  it  is  tolerated  to  a  great 
extent,  since  the  character  which  they  bear  is  that 
of  the  Confucian  gods.  We  now  understand  that 
'  the  classics,  or  the  books  to  which  China  owes  its 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  gods,  are  the  bibles  of 
theology  not  only  for  Confucianism,  but  for 
Taoism  as  well. 


TAOISM  135 

To  no  higher  conceptions  about  gods  and  god- 
head have  the  two  native  religions  of  China  allowed 
the  mind  to  rise.  But  certainly  that  stage  of 
theology  is  not  very  low.  The  Chinese  do  not 
place  a  god  above  the  Tao,  or  universal  order,  a 
god  dethroning  all  the  rest;  to  this  day  they  see 
neither  the  logic  nor  the  necessity  of  it.  The  Tao 
is  Creation,  as  well  as  the  creator,  spontaneously; 
working  from  all  eternity.  Evidently,  in  very 
ancient  times,  man  in  China  has  mused  on  nature's 
awful  power,  and  realized  his  absolute  dependence 
on  it.  Thus  the  conviction  ripene$  in  him  that,  to 
exist,  and  to  exist  in  a  happy  stajfc,  he  should  com- 
port himself  as  perfectly  as  pos^1**  1'n  a/ynrHanrp. 
with  the  order  of  the  universe;  should  his  acts 
disagree  with  that  almighty  Tao,  a  conflict  must 
necessarily  ensue,  in  which  he,  the  weaker  party, 
must  unavoidably  succumb.  Such  meditations  have 
led  him  into  the  path  of  philosophy — to  the  study 
and  discovery  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Tao,  and 
of  the  means  of  acquiring  these  for  himself  and 
of  framing  his  conduct  upon  the  same;  in  other 
words,  he  has  traced  out  a  Tao,  or  way  of  man 
(jen-tao),  being  a  system  of  discipline  and  ethics 
based  upon  observation  and  divination  of  nature, 


136  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

conducive  to  its  imitation.  This  is  a  system  of 
occult  science,  magic,  a  Tao  of  man  pretending  to 
be  a  copy  of  the  great  Tao  of  heaven  and  earth,  the 
order  of  the  world.  It  is  directed  towards  com- 
manding nature's  beneficent  influences  personified 
by  the  gods,  and  averting  its  bad  influences  repre- 
sented by  the  specters,  and  therefore  naturally 
embraces  worship  and  propitiation  of  gods,  side  by 
side  with  expulsion  of  demons,  or  exorcism. 

Of  this  system  the  great  fundamental  dogma,  but 
for  which  conformity  with  the  Tao  would  lack  all  its 
importance,  is,  that  the  Tao  is  the  summum  bonum, 
the  very  highest  good,  the  source  therefore  of  all 
felicity  whatsoever.  This  dogma  is  preached  by  the 
Yih.  This  natural  goodness  the  Tao  owes  to  the 
fact  that  the  Yang  and  the  Yin,  identified  with 
heaven  and  earth,  benevolently  cooperate  in  giving 
birth  to  all  beings,  and  nourish  and  sustain  them 
all.  Thus  speaks  the  Yih:  "Heaven  and  earth 
nourish  the  myriads  of  beings  and  things ;  therefore 
the  perfect  man  nourishes  his  wisdom  and  talents, 
that  they  may  come  to  the  profit  of  the  myriads 
of  people." 

The  soul  of  man,  being  produced  by  the  Yang 
and  the  Yin,  that  is  to  say  by  the  Tao,  and  the  Tao 


TAOISM  137 

being  the  source  of  all  good,  it  follows  that  the 
qualities  of  his  soul, — his  character,  instincts,  or 
moral  constitution — must  be  naturally  good.  This 
inference  comes  into  prominence  in  the  classics  as 
a  dogma,  and  therefore  has  been  the  principal  basis 
of  all  Taoistic  and  Confucian  ethics  to  this  day. 
The  Yih  divides  man's  natural  goodness  into  four 
cardinal  virtues:  benevolence,  righteousness,  ob- 
servance of  ceremonies  and  rites,  and  knowledge. 
The  classics  describe  these  virtues  as  emanations 
from  four  principal  qualities  of  heaven,  saying  that 
the  man  who  cultivates  those  virtues  is  assimilated 
to  those  celestial  qualities  and  so  with  the  chief 
manifestations  of  the  Tao.  Such  a  man  is,  accord- 
ing to  all  classical  philosophy,  the  kiun-tzse,  princely 
man,  the  holy  man,  the  saint.  He  is  a  shen-jen,  or 
god-man,  his  soul,  or  shen,  being  assimilated  with 
the  universal  Shen  or  Yang. 

This  is  in  a  few  words  the  ethical  basis  of  Con- 

i 

fucianism  and  Taoism,  the  great  outline  of  the  Tao  j 
of  man,  leading  to  virtue,  perfection,  sanctity,  or 
divinity.  The  cardinal  virtues  are  the  Tao  of  man, 
the  sum  and  substance  of  morality,  bestowed  on 
man  by  heaven  itself.  Morality  is  universalistic  to 
the  very  marrow,  and  Confucianism  is  on  this  most 


138  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE  CHINESE 

important  point  Taoism  itself.  The  humanJFo&js 
synonymous  with  virtue;  it  is  synonymous  with 
^classical  or  orthodox  doctrine ;  it  is  synonymous 
with  Shen,  or  divinity,  and  also  with  harmony  with 
the  world  of  gods — such  harmony  being  fostered 
especially  by  the  second  cardinal  virtue:  rites  and 
ceremonies,  that  is  to  say,  a  ritualistic  religion. 

All  this  Taoist  doctrine  prevailed  in  the  pre- 
Christian  epoch.  It  was  set  forth  in  the  classics, 
especially  in  the  Y$h  and  the  Li  ki,  but  also  in  the 
famous  Tao-teh-king,  or  classic  of  Taoistic  virtue, 
ascribed  to  Lao-tsze;  and,  much  more  elaborately, 
in  the  Nan  hwa  chen  king,  the  great  Taoistic  work 
of  Chwang-tsze.  The  classics  being  appropriated 
more  particularly  by  Confucianism  as  its  holy 
books,  the  writings  of  Lao  and  Chwang  are  more 
peculiarly  designated  as  the  holy  books  of  Taoism, 
though  Taoism  emphatically  claims  the  classics  to 
be  its  own  holy  books  as  well. 

Among  the  means  which  the  ancients  have 
invented  to  bring  about  a  realization  of  the  highest 
ideal,  which  is  conformity  with  the  Tao,  imitation 
of  the  Tao  stands  foremost.  In  fact,  behaving  as 
nature  behaves,  is  adaptation  to  nature. 

Imitation  of  the  Tao  is  imitation  of  its  qualities 


TAOISM  139 

or  virtues.  Ancient  books  contain  several  hints  as 
to  the  ways  in  which  man  has  to  act  in  accordance 
and  harmony  with  the  Tao,  and  those  which  occur 
in  the  classics  pass,  of  course,  for  stringent  dog- 
matic rescripts,  to  be  slavishly  obeyed  not  only  for 
the  sake  of  self-preservation  but,  in  the  case  of 
rulers,  for  the  preservation  and  welfare  of  their 
subjects.  Not  a  few  of  those  rescripts  have  always 
commanded  a  wide  sphere  of  influence  in  the  do- 
main of  politics,  and  have  given  existence  to 
important  state  institutions,  considered  to  be,  for 
the  nation  and  its  rulers,  matters  of  life  or  death. 
Many  also  we  may  characterize  as  mere  moral  les- 
sons or  maxims,  speculative  phrases,  devoid  of 
practical  value;  as,  for  example,  the  doctrine  of 
the  Yih  that  man  should  raise  his  intellect  to  a 
par  with  the  lucidity  of  the  sun  and  moon,  his  firm- 
ness or  constancy  to  a  par  with  that  of  heaven 
which  never  diverges  from  its  course,  and,  like  the 
earth,  he  must  support  and  nourish  all  beings  with 
blessings.  Heaven  and  earth  produce  everything 
without  partiality;  the  perfect  ruler  therefore  ought 
always  to  be  impartial  in  administering  govern- 
ment. Thus  universalism  appears  as  a  source  of 
ethics,  exhorting  to  altruism  and  justice. 


I4O  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

It  incites  to  many  more  virtues.  The  Yih 
teaches  every  man  to  be  compliant  with  the  will 
and  wishes  of  others;  indeed,  compliance  with  the 
Tao  is  the  first  of  necessities,  seeing  that,  if  man 
opposes  the  Tao,  the  Tao  is  sure  to  destroy  him. 
Besides,  do  not  heaven  and  earth  manifest  the  most 
perfect  compliance  towards  one  another,  moving 
*  eternally  without  the  slightest  collision?  Thus  it 
is  that  rulers  ought  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of 
their  people  and  rule  them  in  accordance  with  their 
will.  There  will  not  be  then  any  more  collision 
or  rebellion  than  there  is  between  heaven  and  earth. 
This  is  a  theoretical  constitutionalism  on  the  Tao- 
istic  basis !  The  general  state  of  compliance  is  an 
ideal  state  of  bliss. 

The  Tao  also  teaches  emphatically  humility  and 
self-effacement.  Heaven,  after  having  annually 
done  its  highly  meritorious  creative  work,  never 
shows  any  pride.  Hence  it  is  that  Lao-tsze  taught : 
"when  your  meritorious  work  is  done,  and  fame  is 
thereby  gained,  to  retire  to  the  background  is  the 
Tao  of  heaven."  Indeed,  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
after  shining,  set ;  the  moon,  after  its  fullness, 
wanes;  the  warmth  of  summer  retires  when  it  has 
finished  its  work  of  creation.  Again,  "water,"  says 


TAOISM  141 

Lao-tsze,  "benefits  all  things,  and  yet  humbly  occu- 
pies the  lowest  places  which  all  men  dislike.  The 
reason  why  the  large  rivers  and  the  seas  are  able 
to  act  as  kings  of  the  streams  which  flow  down 
into  the  valley,  receiving  tribute  from  them  all,  is 
their  skill  in  taking  a  lower  level  than  they."  The 
Taoist  does  not  indulge  in  self-advertisement  or 
in  self-sufficiency  or  self-praise;  he  does  not  strive 
for  glory.  He  is,  in  other  words,  exempt  from 
passion  and  desires, — like  heaven  and  earth,  and 
the  Tao  which  rules  their  course. 

This  absence  of  passion  is  expressed  by  the  word 
"emptiness."  It  implies  placidity,  contentedness, 
freedom  from  care,  and  means  in  particular  purity 
of  mind  and  character — a  purity  like  that  of  heaven 
itself.  The  pure  shen,  or  soul  of  heaven  and  the 
universe,  pervades  the  man  who  has  no  passions ; 
he  becomes  a  shen,  or  god,  himself,  a  celestial 
being,  a  man  of  perfection. 

Emptiness  is  the  mother  of  inactivity  or  stillness, 
two  virtues  of  which  again  heaven  and  earth  are 
the  prototypes.  In  fact,  the  Tao  of  heaven  and 
earth  is  not  the  active  cause  of  all  movement  in  the 
universe,  but  that  movement  itself ;  it  is  not  action, 
but  law.  Is  it  not  clear  therefrom  that  man  must 


142  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

live  a  life  moved  by  inward  spontaneity  only?  He 
may  not  allow  himself  to  be  guided  by  self-deter- 
mination or  a  strong  will,  nor  may  he  be  dominated 
by  desire  or  spirit  of  initiative;  he  should  never 
act  a  part,  least  of  all  force  the  nature  of  things. 
This  is  the  famous  doctrine  of  inactivity,  or  wu- 
wei,  preached  by  Lao-tsze,  warmly  recommended 


by  Confucius.  Like  heaven  and  earth,  which  do 
not  exert  themselves,  yet  produce  and  create  every- 
thing, soman  who  is  inactive  can  do  everything; 
he  is  almighty.  If  he  is  a  ruler,  he  is  irresist- 


ible, and  reigns  most  successfully,  without  any 
exertion,  simply  because  he  possesses  that  great  Tao 
of  heaven  and  earth.  Confucius  exclaimed :  "The 
man  who  reigned  without  exertion,  was  he  not 
Shun  ?  What  did  he  ?  He  made  himself  venerable 
and  sat  on  his  throne  facing  due  south;  that  was 
all  he  did."  The  Taoist  may  not  even  teach  his 

doctrines:    they    m^st    pmergp    from    him    spon- 

„ — -— • — 

taneously.  Confucius,  in  a  mood  of  wu-wei-ism, 
once  said :  "I  would  rather  not  talk.  But  if  thou 
sayest  nothing,  master,  his  disciples  replied,  what 
shall  we  have  to  record?  Does  heaven  say  aught? 
retorted  the  Sage,  and  yet  the  seasons  pursue  their 


TAOISM  143 

course,  and  yet  all  things  are  produced;  does 
heaven  say  aught?" 

The  true  Taoist  then  is  the  man  who  unites  in 
himself  those  virtues  or  qualities  of  the  universe, 
including  the  constant  virtues.  He  may  thus  be, 
or  become,  a  part  of  the  shen  of  the  universe,  that 
is  to  say,  an  unsubstantial,  incorporeal  god. 

Lao-tsze,  Chwang-tsze,  the  Confucian  classics, 
and  the  Chung-yung  in  particular,  dilate  on  the 
qualities  of  such  a  man-god  or  princely  man,  whom 
they  also  call  shing,  or  saint,  chin  and  ch'ing  or 
earl.  As  among  the  Stoics  of  ancient  Greece,  his 
tendency  is  to  Jive  in  accordance  with  nature ;  all  he 
does  is  right,  all  his  opinions  are  true,  he  alone  is 
skilled  to  govern,  his  happiness  falls  nowise  short 
of  the  happiness  of  the  gods.  Rulers  in  the  first 
place  ought  to  possess  the  Taoist  qualities,  and 
many  who,  in  fabulous  antiquity,  introduced  the 
universal  order  into  human  government  and  life, 
are  described  as  being  thus  perfect,  real,  and  holy. 
They  are  the  paragons  of  Confucianism  also: 
Theoretically,  to  this  day,  the  living  emperor  is  such 
a  saint.  He  is  one  of  the  highest  gods,  with  none 
above  him  but  heaven,  whose  son  he  is.  A  god- 
man  needs  no  food  to  sustain  him.  He  rides  on 


144  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

clouds  with  flying  dragons  for  his  team.  He 
rambles  beyond  the  four  oceans  of  the  world.  He 
rides  on  the  sun  and  the  moon.  Neither  death  nor 
life  makes  any  change  in  him.  Thunder  and 
lightning  do  not  frighten  him;  the  greatest  heat 
will  not  burn  him;  the  highest  floods  not  drown 
him.  It  is  in  these  terms  that  Chwang-tsze  depicts 
him ;  and  other  authors  dilate  on  him  with  enthus- 
iasm. 

The  great  doctrine  of  absence  of  passion,  that  is 
to  say  indifference,  stillness,  inactivity,  elevated  to 

*"•• — •"*" "" ""  ^ "^ •— — ««M IMH ^^ 

the  rank  of  highest  virtue  of  the  universe  and  of 
man,  implies  the  prevalence  in  early  Taoist  time  of 
a  strong  leaning  towards  asceticism  and  retire- 
ment from  the  world.  Taoist  recluses  or  anchorites, 
called  shif  or  scholars,  doctors,  are  indeed  men- 
tioned in  the  writings  of  Lao  and  Chwang;  and 
these  two  prophets,  according  to  Sze-ma  Ts'ien, 
themselves  lived  in  seclusion  and  solitude.  Later 
on  we  find  that  the  Tao-shi  are  mentioned  as 
"scholars  settled  at  home,"  scholars  not  leaving 
their  dwelling  in  search  of  position  and  glory. 
Since  the  beginning  of  our  era  such  divine  beings 
are  mentioned  and  described  in  very  great  numbers 
as  having  lived  from  the  commencement  of  China's 


TAOISM  145 

mythical  time,  and  though  they  are,  no  doubt,  all 
or  nearly  all  products  of  fancy,  many  of  them  are 
worshiped  as  gods  to  this  day.  Most  of  them, 
retired  into  mountains  and  acquiring  by  the  cul- 
tivation of  sanctity  and  perfection  the  magical 
powers  of  the  god-man,  became  immortal  like  the 
Tao  itself.  They  are  the  so-called  sien,  generally 
reputed  to  have  lived  to  an  extreme  old  age,  even 
forever — a  class  of  terrestrial  genii,  becoming 
celestial  genii  so  soon  as  the  process  of  perfection 
enabled  them  to  soar  on  high  to  the  heavenly  gods 
in  their  Olympian  paradise. 

Such  perfect  worthies  attracted,  of  course,  dis- 
ciples, who  gathered  round  them  to  learn  the  dis- 
cipline of  perfection  and  salvation.  Since  the  Han 
dynasty  their  so-called  "cottages  for  refinement" 
are  found  frequently  mentioned  in  literature; 
many  of  these  abodes  were  grottoes  and  rock-caves. 
Ancient  doctrine  taught  that  the  god-man  might 
live  without  food.  These  votaries  in  retirement 
explained  this  in  this  sense,  that,  could  they  only 
succeed  in  living  without  food,  they  would  be  gods. 
To  this  end  they  fasted  and  emaciated  themselves. 
Besides,  they  ransacked  the  mountains  for  drugs, 
which,  when  eaten,  might  silence  the  craving  of 
01 


146  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

their  stomachs,  and,  by  bestowing  vitality,  might 
invigorate  them  and  prolong  their  lives.  Thus 
they  tried  to  shed  their  material  body,  their  mortal 
coil,  and  to  become  ethereal  gods. 

The  universal  Athmos,  or  Shen,  pervades  every- 
thing, and  man's  life  is  derived  from  the  infusion 
of  a  part  of  it  into  himself.  Therefore  he  may  pre- 
vent his  death  by  constantly  absorbing  Athmos 
from  the  world  surrounding  himr  This  process,  if 
properly  conducted,  may  even  make  him  live  as 
long  as  heaven  itself.  The  vegetable  kingdom  had 
so  often  shown  itself  capable  of  infusing  new  life 
into  the  sick,  that  plants,  declared  by  human  reason 
to  be  specially  animated,  naturally  supplied  the 
elixirs  of  life.  The  art  of  discovering,  preparing, 
and  consuming  these  was,  of  old,  eminently  Tao- 
istic ;  it  is  indissolubly  allied  with  the  art  of  curing 
the  sick,  that  is  to  say,  of  pouring  new  life  into 
them. 

In  the  list  of  those  sovereign  plants  of  the  sien 
we  find,  for  example,  the  pine  and  the  cypress, 
especially  the  seeds  and  their  resin,  or  blood,  which 
are  concentrations  of  the  vitality  of  the  tree. 
Further  we  find  among  such  the  plum,  pear,  and 
peach,  the  cassia,  and  also  various  kinds  of  mush- 


TAOISM  147 

rooms,  furthermore  so-called  shuh,  calamus  or 
sweet-flag,  asters  or  chrysanthemums,  etc.  To  ac- 
count for  the  capacities  of  each  of  these  plants  in 
prolonging  life  and  conferring  immortality,  Taoism 
had  its  reasons  and  deductions,  derived  from  cos- 
mological-animistic  philosophy.  Of  the  other  sub- 
stances bestowing  immortality  we  merely  mention 
gold,  jade,  pearls,  mother-of-pearl,  cinnabar.  All 
these  things,  and  a  great  many  more,  have,  of 
course,  occupied  a  place  in  the  pharmacopoeia  for 
all  ages. 

.  Learned  reasoning  also  demonstrated  that  the 
absorption  of  these  life-bestowing  substances  by 
the  body  might  be  advantageously  connected  with 
inhalation  of  shen  directly  from  the  atmosphere. 
The  atmosphere  indeed  is  nothing  else  than  the 
great  Athmos  of  the  universe,  its  very  Shen.  In- 
halations, deep  and  long;  exhalations,  slow  and 
short,  periodically  and  in  a  proper  cadence,  accord- 
ing to  prescribed  rules  of  the  sages,  could  not  but 
highly  promote  assimilation  with  the  Tao,  and  pro- 
duce deathlessness.  This  discipline  was  connected 
with  movement  of  the  limbs,  it  having  been  cor- 
rectly discovered  that  such  motion  exercises  an 
influence  upon  respiration.  Hence  there  was  de- 


148  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

veloped  a  system  of  indoor  gymnastics,  preached 
and  practised  to  this  day  as  highly  beneficial  in 
promoting  health  and  longevity.  Slow  dances,  or 
rather  marches,  and  combinations  of  paces  forming 
figures,  completed  the  system.  "The  perfect  man/' 
wrote  Chwang-tsze,  "is  he  who  respires  even  to  his 
heels,"  so  that  his  body  to  its  farthest  extremities 
is  imbued  with  the  vital  ether  of  the  universe.  Thus 
the  same  author  goes  on  to  say,  "Blowing  and  gasp- 
ing, sighing  and  panting,  expelling  the  old  breath 
and  taking  in  new,  passing  the  time  like  a  hiber- 
nating bear,  and  stretching  and  twisting  the  neck 
like  a  bird — all  this  merely  shows  the  desire  for 
longevity." 

Longevity  seeking  was,  as  the  works  of  Lao  and 
Chwang  justify  us  in  asserting,  firmly  established 
as  a  system  before  the  rise  of  the  House  of  Han. 
It  reached  its  height  in  the  epoch  when  this  house 
swayed  the  empire.  Famous  scholars  and  states- 
men were  then  devotees  of  it;  learned  men  wrote 
on  the  subject,  and  many  of  their  writings  still 
exist,  enabling  us  to  know  and  describe  the  system 
in  particulars.  Men  who  thus  had  fed  and  refined 
their  constitutions  for  a  number  of  years  could, 
without  dying,  transmigrate  into  another  existence 


TAOISM  149 

and  could  thus  become  men  of  reality,  immortals, 
either  terrestrial  or  celestial,  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  divinity  they  had  reached. 

Such  were  the  holy  men  supposed  to  live  together 
in  great  numbers,  in  mythical  places  where  no  foot 
of  common  mortals  had  ever  trodden  the  earth. 
They  dwelt  in  islands  in  the  limitless  ocean,  for  the 
discovery  of  which  even  Shi  Hwang,  in  the  third 
century  before  our  era,  sent  out  expeditions. 
Herbs  of  life,  substances  filled  with  universal 
Athmos,  grew  there  luxuriantly;  there  fluid  jade 
gushed  out  of  the  rocks.  Most  important  among 
those  paradises  was  the  Kwun-lun  range  in  the  far 
west,  where  the  sien  enjoyed  immortality  under  the 
sway  and  direction  of  Si-wang-mu,  a  mysterious 
queen,  strange  ideas  about  whom  occupy  the  minds 
of  the  Chinese  to  this  day,  and  whose  worship  still 
is  general. 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  more  than  a  mere  coincidence 
that  the  dwelling  together  of  Taoist  votaries  as 
religious  fraternities  for  the  cultivation  of  divinity 
and  immortality,  that  is  to  say  Taoist  monastic  life, 
dates,  according  to  Chinese  literature,  from  the  age 
of  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  and  its  first 
growth  on  Chinese  soil.  This  coincidence  renders 


\      \ 


I5O  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

it  hardly  doubtful  that  it  developed  principally 
under  the  impulse  of  Buddhist  example,  and  prob- 
ably also  under  stimulation  of  a  spirit  of  competi- 
tion. Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  a  fact  that  Taoist 
convents  and  nunneries  have  always  existed  in 
China  in  much  smaller  numbers  than  those  of 
Buddhists,  and  that  at  present  only  a  few  survive. 
The  presence  of  Buddhism  with  its  intensive 
monastic  life  rendered  the  growth  of  Taoism  in 
that  direction  superfluous — indeed,  the  road  to  sal- 
vation and  perfection  leading  through  the  Buddhist 
monasteries  proved  broad  enough  for  all  men. 
Even  the  anchorites,  or  scholars  "living  at  home," 
of  whom  I  have  spoken,  learned  notables  not  em- 
ployed by  the  state,  are,  since  the  Han  dynasty, 
mostly  described  as  Buddhists,  or  are  mentioned  as 
votaries  of  the  two  systems  together,  or  as  Taoists 
at  first  and  Buddhists  in  the  end. 

In  fact,  Buddhism  entered  China  in  the  Ma- 
hayana  form,  that  is  to  say,  that  of  the  great  or 
broad  way  to  salvation.  This  name  signifies  the 
august  vocation  which  the  religion  had  imposed 
upon  itself;  the  salvation  of  all  beings  whatsoever, 
even  animals  and  devils.  It  was  believed  to  effect 
this  by  means  of  asceticism  and  mortification,  prom- 


TAOISM  151 

ising  man  to  rise  thereby  through  several  stages  of 
perfection  to  the  highest — the  Buddhaship,  or  ab- 
sorption into  Nirvana  or  universal  nothingness. 
This  great  way  and  the  goal  to  which  it  led  bore 
a  striking  resemblance  to  the  Taoist  way  of  man, 
which,  in  the  main,  consisted  of  killing  the  passions, 
leading  to  Wu-wei  or  universal  nothingness  of 
action,  that  is,  to  assimilation  with  the  universe. 
Need  we  then  be  surprised  that  the  two  systems 
met  harmoniously,  and  that  Buddhism  considered 
her  road  into  China  paved  by  Taoism?  And  that, 
on  the  other  hand,  Taoists  deemed  Buddhism,  as 
well  as  their  own  system,  to  be  preached  by  Lao- 
tsze  who  journeyed  for  this  purpose  to  the  west? 
This  fusion  was  facilitated  by  the  universalistic 
and  syncretic  spirit  of  the  Mahayana,  which,  while 
imperatively  insisting  on  the  active  salvation  of  all 
beings,  and  the  increase  of  the  ways  leading  to 
that  great  end,  allotted  with  almost  absolute  toler- 
ance a  place  in  its  system  to  the  way  or  Tao  of  the 
Taoists. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  Taoist  religion,  by  inventing 
a  large  number  of  men  who  by  walking  in  the  Tao 
successfully  became  saints  or  gods,  enriched  the 
Olympus  of  China  with  numerous  divinities.  Their 


152  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

worship  represents  an  extension  of  the  worship  of 
ancestors,  therefore  ancient  and  classical ;  therefore 
Confucian  and  orthodox.  Many  Taoist  saints  have 
their  temples  and  religious  festivals  to  this  day. 
'  Highest  among  them  are  the  supreme  gods  of 
nature.  Chaos,  before  it  split  into  Yang  and  Yin 
and  became  the  Tao,  occupies  the  principal  place  in 
the  pantheon  under  the  name  of  Pan-ku.  The 
deified  Yang  is  named  Royal  Father  of  the  East, 
and  as  such  he  bears  sway  in  a  kind  of  paradise 
in  the  ocean.  The  deified  Yin  is  his  consort,  Si- 
wang-mu,  the  Royal  Mother  of  the  West  (see 
p.  149),  who  wields  the  scepter  in  the  Kwun-lun 
paradise  over  myriads  of  immortals.  And  whereas 
the  west  is  the  region  of  the  death  of  light,  Si- 
wang-mu  is  enthroned  in  her  realm  as  a  goddess 
presiding  over  death.  A  few  very  worthy  emperors 
of  this  earth  are  stated  to  have  visited  her,  and 
have  even  been  called  on  by  her.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  beauties  of  her  paradise  have  been 
enthusiastically  described  by  many  authors,  with 
even  more  detail  than  any  country  of  this  earth. 

The  place  which,  in  the  ranks  of  the  gods,  fol- 
lows that  of  the  Yang  and  the  Yin,  was  respectfully 
allotted  by  theogonists  to  Lao-tsze,  the  prophet  who 


TAOISM  153 

endowed  man  with  the  Tao-teh-king,  the  first  book 
that  taught  him  about  immortality  and  divinity  by 
the  discipline  of  the  breath  and  imitation  of  the 
Tao.  This  immortal  man  lived  on  earth  several 
times,  and  existed  before  heaven  and  earth  sepa- 
rated. He  is  the  lord  of  the  gates  of  the  celestial 
paradise  to  which  cultivation  of  the  Tao  gives 
access. 

If  we  may  ascribe  to  Taoism  some  merit  in  the 
life  of  the  human  race,  it  is  certainly  this,  that  it 
has  endowed  East  Asia  with  ideals  about  a  future 
life  of  bliss,  accessible  by  a  first  life  of  virtue  and 
self-abnegation.  True,  this  doctrine  has  degen- 
erated into  vagaries,  such  as  pulmonary  gymnastics, 
and  searches  after  elixirs  of  life;  nevertheless,  by 
fostering  a  submissive  respect  for  overawing  nature, 
Taoism  has  produced  something  better  than  what 
was  given  by  Confucianism,  which  itself  refuses 
to  be  anything  more  than  dry  ritualism. 

We  have  now  seen  that  under  the  Han  dynasty 
Taoism  had  grown  up  to  an  actual  religion,  with 
a  pantheon,  with  doctrines  of  sanctity,  with  ethics 
calculated  to  reach  sanctity,  with  votaries,  hermits 
and  saints,  teachers  and  pupils.  We  have  seen  that 
the  votaries  organized  themselves  into  religious 


154  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

communities;  the  process  of  evolution  even  trans- 
formed the  religion  in  that  same  epoch  into  a  dis- 
ciplined church.  This  phenomenon  is  inseparably 
connected  with  the  name  of  Chang-ling,  or  Chang 
Tao-ling. 

To  this  day  this  saint  is  described  as  a  miracle- 
worker  of  the  highest  order,  as  a  distiller  of  elixirs 
of  life,  as  a  first-rate  exorcist,  as  a  theanthropos 
who  commanded  spirits  and  gods.  He  personifies 
the  transformation  of  Taoist  ancient  principle  and 
doctrine  into  a  religion  with  magic,  priesthood,  and 
hierarchy,  under  the  very  auspices  of  Lao-tsze, 
who,  appearing  to  him  in  person,  commissioned  him 
for  that  great  organization.  In  obedience  to  this 
prophet,  he  transmitted  his  mission  to  his  descend- 
ants, who  indeed  have  lived  to  this  day  as  legal 
heads  of  the  church  in  the  province  of  Kiangsi,  in 
the  same  place  in  the  Kwei-khi  district  where  he 
prepared  his  elixir  of  life,  and  flew  up  to  the  azure 


History  and  myth  teach  us  that,  in  the  second 
century  of  our  era,  this  remarkable  man  founded, 
in  the  province  of  Sze-chwen,  a  semi-clerical  state, 
with  a  system  of  taxation  and  a  religious  discipline 
based  on  self-humiliation  before  the  higher  powers, 


TAOISM  155 

and  confession  of  sins.  This  state  was  thereupon 
ruled  by  his  son,  of  whom  history  has  nothing  to 
tell,  and  subsequently  by  his  grandson,  Chang  Lu, 
of  whom  history  tells  much.  This  priestly  prince 
extended  his  sway  also  over  Shensi  province.  The 
legions  of  demons,  that  indispensable  element  in  the 
order  of  the  universe  as  ministers  of  punishment, 
played  a  prominent  part  in  that  state.  Seclusion 
and  asceticism  were  greatly  encouraged,  and  so 
were  benevolence  and  confession  of  sins  before  the 
gods.  Bodily  punishment  was  abolished,  and  in 
their  restrictions  imposed  upon  the  slaughter  of 
animals  we  may  no  doubt  see  Buddhist  influence. 
Besides  Chang  Lu,  two  Taoist  apostles  of  the 
same  surname  were  engaged  in  the  work  of  con- 
version and  ecclesiastical  organization,  Chang  Sin 
and  Chang  Kioh.  The  religious  kingdom  of  Chang 
Siu  was  absorbed  by  that  of  Chang  Lu.  The  "re- 
ligion of  universal  pacification,"  of  which  Chang 
Kioh  was  the  high  priest,  had  none  the  less  a  ter- 
rible, tragic  end.  In  A.D.  184,  a  perfidious  back- 
slider accused  him  and  his  church  of  plotting 
rebellion.  A  bloody  persecution  broke  out  im- 
mediately, compelling  the  religionists  to  rise  in 
self-defense.  This  the  government,  of  course, 


156  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

called  rebellion;  it  was  smothered  in  streams  of 
blood.  Still,  as  late  as  our  year  207,  the  annals 
of  that  time  make  mention  of  the  existence  of  these 
so-called  Yellow  Turbans, — a  proof  that  the  tenacity 
of  that  religion  was  great,  and  the  carnage  long 
continued. 

The  church  of  Chang  Lu  in  Sze-chwen  and 
Shensi  escaped  destruction,  for  he  sagaciously  and 
seasonably  submitted  himself  to  the  Han  dynasty. 
He  was  endowed  by  this  house  with  high  titles  of 
honor.  He  is,  next  to  his  grandfather,  the  glorious 
ancestor  of  the  Chang  family,  but  for  whom  the 
pontificate  would  not  exist  at  this  day. 

Taoist  monachism  was  devoted  to  the  silent  culti- 
vation of  divinity  and  immortality  by  means  of  the 
discipline  which  I  have  described,  combined  with 
constant  propitiation  of  gods  and  goddesses  by  sac- 
rifices and  worship,  and  exorcism  of  evil  spirits. 
It  has,  evidently,  never  prospered  greatly,  never 
taken  deep  roots  in  the  nation;  Buddhist  competi- 
tion was,  indeed,  too  strong  for  that.  And  its 
development  was  no  less  hampered  by  Confucian 
enmity,  of  which  government  was  the  instrument. 
To  this  day  only  a  few  Taoist  monasteries  of  con- 
siderable size  and  significance  survive.  The  too- 


TAOISM  157 

shi  or  Taoist  doctors  always  were  for  the  greater 
part  busy  in  the  midst  of  society,  living  in  ordinary 
houses,  marrying  like  everybody  else,  and  rearing 
families.  No  doubt  some  applied  themselves  at 
home  to  asceticism  and  assimilation  with  the  Tao. 
They  have  to  this  day  been  servants  of  the  people, 
assisting  them,  for  pecuniary  compensation,  in 
living  and  behaving  in  harmony  with  the  Tao. 

They  exercise  this  duty  in  various  ways.  In  the 
first  place  by  soothsaying.  Indeed,  the  order  of 
the  universe  is  the  annual  course  of  time.  A  life 
conformable  to  the  Tao,  the  source  of  all  that  is 
good,  demands  a  knowledge  of  the  happy  and 
unhappy  influences,  which  the  principal  parts  of 
time  which  the  Yang  produces,  namely,  the  days, 
may  exercise  upon  man;  at  the  same  time  such  a 
life  demands  a  sage  and  practical  application  of 
that  knowledge.  In  plainer  terms,  man  ought  to 
perform  all  the  important  acts  of  his  life  on 
felicitous  days ;  also,  if  possible,  at  felicitous  hours. 
Chronomancy  is,  on  this  account,  an  indispensable 
element  in  the  Taoist  system.  The  almanack  is 
published  to  this  end  (p.  52).  Government,  in 
obedience  to  its  holy  duty  to  maintain  the  Tao 
among  mankind,  has,  indeed,  ever  since  the  most 


158  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

ancient  times  we  know,  considered  it  its  principal 
function  to  supply  the  people  with  this  book.  As 
a  matter  of  course  it  is  incumbent  on  the  Taoist 
priesthood  to  help  the  illiterate  in  deciphering  and 
interpreting  its  indications. 

But  their  chronomantic  functions  have  a  wider 
scope.  The  felicity  of  the  day  and  hour  of  a  man's 
birth  is  his  felicity  forever;  therefore  those  dates 
are  employed  by  Taoists  to  calculate  the  fit  moments 
for  many  of  his  acts.  The  grand  conception  which 
forms  the  base  of  the  chronomantic  system  has  not 
prevented  this  from  becoming  a  web  of  compli- 
cated nonsense.  Nevertheless,  owing  to  its  holy 
origin  in  nature,  chronomancy  passes  for  a  branch 
of  the  highest  science  which  ancestors  have  deliv- 
ered to  man. 

There  are  several  methods  of  soothsaying.  The 
sublimest  is  that  of  the  holiest  Taoist  and  Confu- 
cian book,  the  Yih,  extolled  in  high  terms  by 
Confucius  himself  as  the  wisest  that  ever  was. 
The  influences  exercised  by  the  Tao  in  the  universe, 
and  the  chief  manifestations  of  the  Tao,  are  repre- 
sented in  that  classic  by  combinations  of  lines, 
entire  and  broken,  called  kwa,  and  interpreted  by 
means  of  verses;  the  divination  of  human  fate  by 


TAOISM  159 

means  of  those  kwa  and  those  verses  is  especially 
the  work  of  Taoists.  The  kwa  also  are  instruments 
for  divination  about  sites  of  tombs,  human  dwell- 
ings, temples,  and  even  towns,  and  about  the  par- 
ticulars of  their  construction.  That  is  to  say,  they 
are  the  basis  of  the  system  of  geomancy,  called 
fung-shui,  stating  that  it  professes  to  cause  man 
to  live,  to  die,  and  to  be  buried  in  places  in  which 
the  beneficial  influences  of  nature  converge.  It  is 
certainly  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  whole  Chinese 
nation,  from  the  emperor  to  the  lowest  subject, 
is  under  the  absolute  sway  of  that  would-be  scien- 
tific system. 

But  the  principal  work  of  the  Taoist  priesthood 
is  the  performance  of  magical  religious  ceremonies. 
The  great  Taoist  and  Confucian  prophets  have 
stated  that  men  who  possess  the  Tao  by  having 
assimilated  themselves  with  nature,  also  possess 
miraculous  powers,  the  same  as  those  which  nature 
herself  displays;  they  are,  indeed,  gods  or  shen  of 
the  same  kind  as  those  who  constitute  the  Tao. 
Among  these  powers  the  most  useful  is  that  of 
destroying  and  casting  out  evil  spirits,  and  thus 
saving  mankind  from  disease,  plague,  and  drought. 
Even  the  man  who,  by  practising  Taoist  discipline, 


l6o  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

is  on  the  way  to  assimilation  with  the  Tao,  that  is 
to  say,  the  Taoist  doctor  or  priest,  is  a  magician  of 
this  kind,  of  lower  or  higher  order  according  to 
his  attainments  in  the  Tao.  He  is  a  physician  and 
an  exorcist;  he  may  quench  conflagrations  in  the 
distance,  stop  swollen  rivers  and  inundations,  pro- 
duce fogs  and  rains;  to  these  and  other  ends  he 
may  command  the  gods.  Magic  has  always  been 
the  central  nerve  of  the  Taoist  religion,  and  always 
determined  the  functions  of  its  priesthood.  It  runs 
as  a  main  artery  through  a  most  extensive  ritualism 
and  ceremonial,  aiming  at  the  promotion  of  human 
felicity  mainly  by  destruction  of  evil  spirits,  com- 
bined with  propitiation  of  gods.  It  works  espe- 
cially with  charms  and  spells,  the  power  of  which 
is  unlimited  faith.  By  means  of  charms  and 
spells  gods  are  ordered  to  do  whatever  the  priests 
desire,  and  demons  and  their  work  are  dispelled 
and  destroyed — in  fact,  they  express  orders  from 
Lao-tsze  and  other  powerful  saints  or  gods. 
Wherever  calamities  are  to  be  averted  or  felicity  is 
to  be  established,  a  temporary  altar  is  erected  by 
the  priests,  adorned  with  portraits  of  a  great  num- 
ber of  gods,  with  flowers  and  incense  burners,  and 
sacrificial  food  and  drink  is  set  thereon.  The  gods, 


k     OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

TAOISM  161 


attracted  by  the  savory  smoke  and  smell,  are  called 
down  by  means  of  charms,  which,  being  burned, 
reach  them  through  the  flames  and  the  smoke  ;  and 
by  the  same  magic,  connected  with  invocations  and 
prayers,  they  are  prevailed  upon  to  remove  the 
calamity.  Thus  it  is  that  the  gods  of  rain  and 
thunder  send  down  fructifying  water  wanted  for 
agriculture  ;  that  they  stop  their  rains  and  showers 
in  seasons  of  excessive  wetness.  Thus  river  gods 
are  forced  to  withdraw  their  destructive  floods, 
gods  of  fire  prevailed  upon  to  quench  conflagra- 
tions. Thus,  again,  in  times  of  epidemic  or  drought, 
the  devils  which  cause  these  calamities  are  routed 
with  the  help  of  gods. 

That  magical  cult  of  the  universe,  that  is  to  say, 
of  gods  who  are  parts  or  manifestations  of  the 
universal  Yang-Athmos  —  that  religion,  sacrificial, 
exorcising,  ritualistic  —  is  exercised  in  the  temples 
spoken  of  in  Chapter  IV  which  people  have 
erected  everywhere  by  thousands  throughout  the 
empire,  nominally  consecrating  each  to  one  god, 
but  filling  it  up  with  images  and  altars  of  many 
more.  Myriads  of  images  thus  stud  the  Chinese 
soil,  characterizing  it  as  the  principal  idolatrous 

country  in  the  world.     Those  idols,  deemed  to  be 
ii 


162  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

actually  animated  and  therefore  miracle-working 
if  properly  worked  on  by  magical  worship,  at  the 
same  time  characterize  China  as  the  principal  coun- 
try in  the  world  for  fetishism.  This  idolatry  even 
embraces  the  worship  of  animals  and  trees ;  indeed, 
animals  and  trees,  as  well  as  men,  are  animated 
by  the  Yang  and  the  Yin. 

For  the  exercise  of  magical  religion,  learned 
Taoists  have  in  course  of  ages  invented  numerous 
systems.  Only  a  limited  number  of  these  are  prac- 
tically in  vogue.  Those  systems  differ  from  each 
other  in  the  first  place  according  to  the  gods 
employed;  but  among  these  gods  those  of  thunder 
and  lightning,  the  devil-destroying  instruments  of 
heaven,  are  prominent.  These  gods  generally  fight 
the  host  of  devils  in  close  alliance  with  thirty-six 
generals  of  an  army  of  celestial  warriors,  many  of 
whom  have  an  astrological  origin. 

Those  systems  have  been  carefully  printed  and 
published  for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race.  They 
have  been  inserted  in  the  great  Taoist  canon,  pub- 
lished under  imperial  patronage  in  1598,  and  con- 
taining probably  between  3000  and  4000  volumes. 
A  copy  of  this  enormous  compendium — the  only  one 
probably  outside  of  China — is  in  the  Bibliotheque 


TAOISM  163 

Nationale  at  Paris,  but  only  in  a  fragmentary  state ; 
which  is  the  more  deplorable,  seeing  that  it  is  highly 
doubtful  whether  it  will  ever  be  possible  to  find 
a  complete  copy. 

The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  history  of 
Taoism  is  that  in  spite  of  its  sublime  universalistic 
principle,  it  has,  practically,  not  been  able  to  rise 
above  the  level  of  Idolatry,  Polytheism,  and  Poly- 
demonism,  but  even  has  systematically  developed 
all  these  branches  of  the  great  tree  of  Asiatic 
paganism. 


CHAPTER  VI 
BUDDHISM — I 

THE  age  in  which  the  Taoist  principles  of  uni- 
versalism  were  constructed  into  a  formal  religion, 
and  a  church, — that  is  to  say,  the  age  of  the  Han 
dynasty, — was  the  age  also  in  which  Buddhism  was 
introduced  into  the  Chinese  empire.  It  is  still  an 
open  question  whether  it  entered  China  in  its  older 
form,  the  Hinayana,  the  Small  Road,  or  in  its 
younger  form,  the  Mahayana,  or  Great  Road. 
But  a  fact  it  is  that  at  a  very  early  date  the  Ma- 
hayana was  predominant,  and  that  it  has  remained 
predominant  to  the  present  day. 

Mahayanistic  Buddhism,  like  Taoism,  is  a  uni- 
versalistic  religion.  Its  great  principle  or  basis  is 
the  order  of  the  world,  which  it  calls  dharma  or 
law,  and  the  Chinese  have  not  hesitated  to  iden- 
tify this  dharma  with  their  Tao.  Dharma  mani- 
fests itself  especially  by  the  universal  light,  the 
creator  of  everything  in  this  world  of  man.  This 
light  is  emitted  by  the  buddhas,  or  beings  endowed 
with  the  highest  bodhi  or  intelligence.  There  have 

164 


BUDDHISM  165 

been  an  infinite  number  of  these  beings  in  the  past ; 
and  there  will  be  born  an  infinite  number  in  the 
future ;  indeed,  the  light  of  the  world  is  born  every 
day  in  the  morning,  to  enter  into  Nirvana  or  noth- 
ingness in  the  evening.  The  life  of  a  buddha  is  a 
day  of  preaching  of  the  dharma,  a  so-called  revo- 
lution of  its  wheel,  a  daily  emanation  of  light. 
Thus  it  is  that  there  have  been  delivered  many 
billions  and  trillions  of  sermons,  each  having  for 
its  subject  the  elevation  of  man  to  a  state  of  bliss ; 
and  those  which  have  happily  been  written  down 
for  the  use  of  posterity  are  called  Sutras. 

Man,  accordingly,  should  behave  in  every  respect 
as  those  Sutras  preach,  thus  assimilating  himself 
with  the  dharma,  or  order  of  the  universe.  This 
same  end  being  reached  by  Taoists  by  regulating 
life  upon  the  king  or  classics,  Buddhists  in  China 
rightly  denote  their  Sutras  by  the  same  name  of 
king.  It  is  then  clear  that  Taoism,  has  in  China 
paved  the  way  to  Buddhism,  but  it  may  also  be  that 
the  Taoist  doctrines  of  sanctity  and  immortaliza- 
tion of  man  have  owed  much  of  their  development 
under  the  Han  dynasty  to  Buddhist  impulse.  The 
process  of  influence  may  have  been  a  process  of 
reciprocity. 


l66  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

Certainly  we  may  admit  that  Mahayanism  did 
not  collide  with  or  attack  Taoism.  Its  great  aim, 
which  has  given  it  the  name  of  Mahayana,  the 
great  way,  is  to  uplift  the  whole  of  mankind  to 
certain  states  of  salvation,  called  that  of  the  dewa, 
the  arhat,  and  of  the  bodhisattwa  or  the  buddha,  as 
also  to  increase  to  the  highest  possible  degree  the 
number  of  ways  or  means  for  the  obtaining  of 
such  grades  of  blessedness.  And  Taoism,  elevat- 
ing man  to  the  state  of  the  sien  or  immortality,  and 
even  to  that  of  the  shen  or  gods,  was  one  of  those 
Mahayanistic  ways.  But  Mahayanism  improved 
Taoism.  Assimilating  the  Taoist  state  of  godli- 
ness with  that  of  the  dewata,  it  opened  to  man  the 
way  to  much  higher  sanctity,  namely  to  arhatship, 
and  to  the  superior  state  of  the  bodhisattwas  and 
the  buddhas,  which  means  entry  into  Nirvana,  or 
total  absorption  by  the  universe.  Mahayanism 
thus  was  predestined  to  supersede  Taoism,  which 
we  may  call  its  unfinished  prototype,  and  to  throw 
it  in  the  shade  for  all  ages. 

Dharma,  the  universal  law,  embraces  the  world 
in  its  entirety.  It  exists  for  the  benefit  of  all 
beings,  for,  does  not  its  chief  manifestation,  the 
light  of  the  world,  shine  for  blessing  on  all  men 


BUDDHISM  167 

and  all  things?  Salvation,  which  means  con- 
formity of  life  to  the  dharma,  consequently  means 
in  the  first  place  manifestation  of  universal  love, 
both  for  men  and  animals.  Indeed,  as  men  and 
animals  equally  are  formed  of  the  elements  which 
constitute  the  universe  itself,  animals  may  become 
men,  and,  through  the  human  state,  be  converted 
into  arhats,  bodhisattwas  and  buddhas.  Thus  even 
for  animals  salvation  is  to  be  prepared  by  religious 
means;  and  their  lives,  no  less  than  those  of  men, 
must  by  all  means  be  spared. 

The  Hinayana,  the  small  road  to  salvation,  the 
older  form  of  Buddha's  church  in  India,  could  not 
lift  man  to  any  higher  dignity  than  that  of  the 
arhat.  This  dignity  was  only  obtainable  by  those 
who  renounced  the  world,  that  is  to  say  by  poverty 
and  asceticism.  The  man  who  strove  after  salva- 
tion was  a  bhikshu  or  mendicant  monk.  This 
fundamental  principle  of  Buddha's  church  has  main- 
tained its  position  in  the  Mahayana  system;  which, 
indeed,  rejects  not  a  single  means  of  salvation,  and 
certainly  not  the  one  which  Buddha  himself  estab- 
lished by  his  doctrine,  life,  and  example.  Monastic 
life  has  been  the  chief  Mahayanistic  institution 
from  the  very  beginning;  it  grew  up  in  China  side 


l68  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

by  side  with  Taoist  monachism,  by  reciprocal 
stimulation  and  example.  But  Mahayanism  has 
done  greater  work:  it  has  added  two  upper  steps, 
the  bodhisattwaship  and  buddhaship,  to  the  ladder 
of  salvation. 

Mahayanistic  monasteries,  which  have  actually 
studded  the  soil  of  China,  must  be  defined  as  special 
institutions  devoted  to  the  working  out  of  salva- 
tion. Various  methods  are  practised  there  to  this 
end;  and  the  monk  can  choose  those  which  best 
suit  his  inclinations  and  his  character.  He  may 
choose  one  method,  several,  or  even  all.  Asceticism 
and  poverty  of  a  severe  type  are  almost  exceptional. 
It  is  in  fact  only  in  a  few  monasteries  that  some 
brethren  are  found  who  seldom  or  never  leave  their 
cells,  or  the  grottoes  in  the  grounds  of  the  monas- 
tery, spending  their  lives  therein  in  pious  isolation 
and  meditation,  or  in  a  state  of  passivity,  even 
without  ever  shaving  themselves,  and  looking  some- 
what as  pre-adamite  man  must  have  looked.  And 
mendicancy  outside  the  monastic  walls  is  now  a 
rare  occurrence.  When  the  abbot  and  his  cashiers 
deem  it  necessary,  he  sends  the  brethren  to  collect 
from  the  laity.  This  is  also  done  on  certain  days 
of  the  year  by  several  brethren  in  company.  Not 


BUDDHISM  169 

many  instances  of  begging  for  private  needs  now 
occur;  the  bhikshu,  the  mendicant  friar,  has  nearly 
disappeared.  The  majority  of  the  monks  seek  sal- 
vation in  more  dignified  ways. 

The  buildings  and  chapels  which  constitute  a 
monastery  are  provided  with  images  of  bodhisatt- 
was  and  buddhas,  and  these  are  continually  wor- 
shiped, and  besought  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the 
seekers  of  salvation.  The  most  commonly  practised 
method  is  to  live  according  to  the  commandments 
which  Buddha  has  given  for  the  preservation  of 
human  purity,  and  for  man's  progress  in  excellence 
and  virtue ;  that  is  to  say,  the  five  and  the  ten  prin- 
cipal commandments,  with  the  pratimoksha,  or 
two  hundred  and  fifty  monastic  rules,  which  have 
all  been  taken  over  from  the  Hinayana,  but  espe- 
cially the  fifty-eight  commandments  of  the  Ma- 
hayana.  The  latter  are  contained  in  the  Fan-wang 
king,  sutra  of  the  Net  of  Brahma  or  the  celestial 
sphere,  with  its  network  of  constellations;  the 
Brahmadjala  sutra.  The  man  who  truly  lives  by 
these  commandments  becomes  a  bodhisattwa  or  a 
buddha  even  in  this  life;  and  he  has  no  need  to 
trouble  himself  about  the  two  lower  stages,  dewa-r 
ship  or  arhatship,  which  are  attained  by  strict 


I7O  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

obedience    to    the    ten    commandments    and    the 
pratimoksha. 

A  solemn  vow  to  live  a  life  of  sanctity  in 
obedience  to  the  commandments  makes  the  monk. 
It  constitutes  his  ordination,  which  only  a  few 
monasteries  nowadays  have  the  privilege,  granted 
by  imperial  authority,  to  confer.  It  usually  takes 
place  in  the  fourth  month  of  the  year,  about  the 
festival  of  Buddha's  birth.  The  pupils  of  the  clergy 
who  are  living  in  small  monasteries  and  temples 
scattered  throughout  the  empire,  repair  to  the  abbot, 
who  has  the  episcopal  right  to  exercise  the  function 
of  consecrator,  and  at  his  feet  they  express  their 
determination  to  devote  themselves  to  the  sangha, 
or  church.  They  express  penitence  for  their  sins, 
and  swear  by  Buddha  that  they  will  truly  keep  the 
five  great  commandments,  which  are :  not  to  kill ; 
not  to  steal ;  to  commit  no  adultery ;  not  to  lie ;  not 
to  drink  any  spirits.  A  little  later  they  are,  on 
account  of  this  vow,  admitted  as  pupils,  and  sol- 
emnly take -upon  themselves  to  renounce  the  world 
and  keep  the  ten  commandments,  which  are  the 
five  just  mentioned,  and  besides :  abstinence  from 
perfumes  and  flowers,  from  chanting  and  dancing, 
from  large  beds,  from  having  meals  at  regular 


BUDDHISM  171 

times,  and  from  precious  things.  On  making  this 
second  vow  the  neophytes  receive  the  tonsure,  and 
the  abbot  hands  to  each  of  them  a  mendicant  friar's 
robe  or  the  garment  of  poverty,  the  kashaya.  They 
are  now  sramanera  or  monks  of  inferior  rank,  and 
at  the  same  time  devas,  saints  of  the  lowest  degree. 
A  day  or  two  later  they  are  ordained  sramana  or 
bhikshu,  ascetic  monks.  The  vow  to  keep  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty  monastic  rules,  or  pratimoksha,  is 
the  most  important  part  of  this  ordination.  The 
ceremony  takes  place  in  the  presence  of  a  chapter 
consisting  of  eight  of  the  principal  monks  with  the 
abbot  as  president,  and  lasts  several  hours.  The 
abbot  occupies  an  elevated  seat,  and  the  members 
of  the  chapter  are  seated  on  his  right  and  left. 
Each  candidate  receives  an  alms  dish.  The  candi- 
dates are  taken  apart  in  small  groups,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  chapter  asks  them  whether  there  is  any 
hindrance  to  their  reception  into  the  order  of  the 
mendicant  friars.  Then  they  are  immediately  taken 
once  more  into  the  presence  of  the  chapter,  whom 
another  of  its  members  asks  whether  it  consents 
to  the  admission  of  the  novices.  Silence  is  assent. 
The  abbot  then  asks  whether  they  will  yield  faithful 
obedience  to  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  monastic 


172  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

rules  of  life,  contained  in  the  pratimoksha ;  the 
candidates  answer  in  the  affirmative ;  and  thus  take 
the  vow.  The  ceremony  ends  with  a  sermon  by 
the  abbot,  and  his  benediction.  They  are  now 
arhats,  or  saints  of  the  second  degree. 

Then  there  follows,  on  the  very  next  day,  or  the 
second,  the  highest  consecration,  which  raises  the 
sramanas  from  the  recently  gained  stage  of  arhat 
sanctity  to  that  of  the  bodhisattwa.  This  is  pre- 
ceded by  a  ceremonial  purification  from  sin  before 
an  image  of  Buddha.  The  candidates  recount 
their  sins,  and  plead  that  the  pains  of  hell,  which 
they  have  deserved,  may  be  remitted ;  then  they  per- 
form a  bodily  ablution,  and  put  on  new  clothes. 
The  purification  is  combined  with  a  solemn  sacrifice 
to  the  Triratna,  which  is  the  Buddha,  the  dharma, 
and  the  sangha  or  the  church,  in  order  to  sue  for 
pardon.  The  candidates  now  confess  their  sins 
before  those  saints,  and  swear  that  they  will  forever 
live  by  the  fifty-eight  commandments  of  Brahma's 
Net.  Finally,  they  all  atone  for  their  sins  in  a  long 
litany,  in  which  they  call  on  the  names  of  three 
hundred  buddhas,  and  at  each  name  prostrate  them- 
selves and  press  their  foreheads  on  the  ground. 

The   next    ordination   ceremony,    in    compliance 


BUDDHISM  173 

with  one  of  the  fifty-eight  commandments,  is  the 
singeing  of  the  head.  In  the  great  church  of  the 
convent,  where  stand  the  three  great  images  of 
buddha,  the  dharma,  and  the  sangha,  they  all 
assemble,  and  each  of  them  has  quite  a  number  of 
bits  of  charcoal  stuck  on  his  smooth-shaven  head. 
These  are  set  on  fire  by  the  monks  of  the  monastery 
by  means  of  burning  incense  sticks,  and  allowed  to 
burn  away  into  the  skin.  At  an  earlier  period,  it 
seems  that  the  novices  used  to  burn  off  a  finger,  or 
even  the  whole  arm,  as  a  sacrifice  to  Buddha;  we 
even  read  in  Chinese  books  of  cases  of  complete 
self-immolation  on  a  pyre  of  wood. 

The  ordinands  now  humbly  request  ordination 
from  the  abbot.  He  gives  them  instruction  on  its 
meaning  and  importance,  and,  led  by  him,  they  all 
in  unison  invoke  the  buddhas,  shakya,  mandjusri, 
and  maitreya,  with  all  the  buddhas  of  the  ten  parts 
of  the  universe,  to  form  a  chapter,  and  bestow  on 
them  the  highest  ordination.  Once  more  they 
acknowledge  their  sins,  and,  passing  through  a  state 
of  repentance,  repeatedly  make  solemn  vow  that 
they  will  seek  the  good  of  all  creatures,  and,  besides 
instructing  their  own  selves  m  holy  doctrine,  will 
promote  the  salvation  of  them  all.  The  abbot  asks 


174  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

them  whether  they  have  committed  any  of  the  seven 
great  sins  which  exclude  from  the  sangha,  or 
church,  and  reminds  them  of  their  need  of  firm 
determination  to  live  by  the  commandments;  they 
express  their  promise  to  carry  out  this  intention 
with  firmness.  It  is  in  this  firm  determination,  this 
promise,  that  the  completion  of  their  ordination 
exists.  They  are  now  bodhisattwas,  on  the  way  to 
buddhaship. 

In  the  monastic  life  of  the  Mahayana  the  object 
is  the  attainment  of  the  dignity  of  bodhisattwa  and 
buddha  by  means  of  obedience  to  the  command- 
ments of  Brahma's  Net.  Without  a  knowledge  of 
this  fact  it  is  impossible  to  understand  this  monastic 
life. 

The  first  and  greatest  commandment  forbids  the 
slaying  of  any  living  creature.  So  no  flesh  or  fish  is 
eaten  in  the  monastery,  and  the  monks  are  absolute 
vegetarians.  The  cattle,  sheep,  pigs,  fowls,  geese, 
ducks,  and  fish,  which  pious  laymen,  in  order  to 
acquire  merit  beyond  the  grave,  entrust  to  their 
care,  and  for  the  keep  of  which  they  pay,  are 
allowed  to  live  the  natural  term  of  their  existence. 
From  time  to  time  the  monks  perform  certain  rites 
at  the  cattle  pens  or  the  fish  ponds,  by  means  of 


BUDDHISM  175 

which  animals,  like  men,  undergo  a  new  birth,  and 
are  able  to  attain  to  the  higher  states  of  salvation  of 
the  dewa,  the  arhat,  and  the  bodhisattwa. 

The  commandments  demand  with  special  em- 
phasis the  preaching  of  the  Mahayana,  that  is,  the 
opening  of  the  way  of  salvation  to  all  the  world. 
In  each  monastery,  accordingly,  there  is  a  preach- 
ing hall  and  a  college  of  monks,  who  are  called 
preachers,  with  the  abbot  as  their  foreman.  And 
because  preaching  is  the  exposition  of  Sutras,  and 
Winayas  or  laws,  which  have  been  given  to  man- 
kind by  Buddha  as  the  means  of  salvation,  it  is  easy 
to  understand  why  the  monasteries  are  the  places 
where  such  books  are  prepared  and  published. 
The  most  important  of  these  institutions  conse- 
quently possess  printing  departments  with  monks 
acting  as  copyists,  engravers,  correctors,  etc. 
There  are  also  monks  whose  duty  it  is  to  afford 
instruction  in  the  sacred  writings  to  the  less  edu- 
cated brethren. 

There  are  several  annually  recurring  preaching 
days.  The  sermons 'of  the  monks,  because  they  are 
taken  from  sacred  books  which  are  the  gifts  of 
Buddha,  are  the  sermons  of  Buddha  himself.  This 
most  holy  saint  is  in  the  system  of  Mahayana 


176  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

the  light  of  the  world,  and  his  teaching,  or  the 
dharma,  is  that  light  in  which  the  order  of  the 
world  finds  expression,  and  which,  by  its  diffusion, 
embraces  and  blesses  all  existent  life.  So  in  every 
sermon  or  "illumination,"  all  the  buddhas,  bodhi- 
sattwas,  arhats  and  dewas  are  supposed  to  be  pres- 
ent, and,  to  honor  them,  incense,  flowers,  food,  and 
other  gifts  are  on  such  occasions  set  out  on  an 
altar.  On  the  other  hand,  the  maras,  or  spirits  of 
darkness,  are  blinded  by  the  presence  of  so  much 
light  and  so  many  light-giving  gods,  and  driven 
away  or  utterly  destroyed,  together  with  all  evil  of 
which  they  are  the  universal  authors.  Preaching 
is  accordingly  not  merely  a  holy  act,  but  in  every 
respect  a  beatific  act.  The  monks  call  it  "the  turn- 
ing of  the  dharma  wheel,"  that  is  to  say,  the  revo- 
lution of  the  order  of  the  world. 

The  Sutra  of  Brahma's  Net  also  ordains  that  in 
case  of  a  death  the  sacred  books  are  to  be  read,  in 
the  presence  of  the  corpse,  each  seventh  day  up  to 
seven  times  seven,  in  order  that  the  sleeper's  soul 
may  be  advanced  to  the  dignity  of  a  bodhisattwa. 
It  is  a  chief  duty  of  the  monks  to  carry  out  this 
ordinance  among  the  laity,  and  it  is  indeed  per- 
formed in  a  very  solemn  way.  The  principal  book 


BUDDHISM  177 

on  these  occasions  is  the  Sutra  of  Amitabha,  or  the 
buddha  representing  the  sun  in  the  west,  behind 
which  lies  Nirvana,  paradise.  The  recitation  of  this 
is  accompanied  by  a  thousand-fold  recitation  of  that 
buddha's  blessed  name. 

Buddhism  then  contributes  much  to  the  cere- 
monial adornment  of  ancestor  worship.  I  have 
had  occasion  to  state  before  that  it  was  its  salvation 
work  on  behalf  of  the  dead  which  saved  its  place 
in  Confucian  China;  far  of  Confucianism  itself, 
piety  and  devotion  towards  parents  and  ancestors, 
and  the  promotion  of  their  happiness,  were  the  core, 
and,  consequently,  their  worship  with  sacrifices  and 
ceremonies  was  always  a  sacred  duty. 

The  regular  course  of  the  universal  order  is  very 
much  helped  by  the  artificial  "turning  of  the 
dharma  wheel"  by  man.  The  monks  therefore  set 
up  altars  on  occasions  of  destructive  drought  or 
excessive  rainfall,  and  there  recite  their  sutras. 
And  at  the  same  time,  as  at  every  recitation  of 
sutras,  the  saints  are  invoked,  sacrificial  ceremonies 
and  other  rites  are  performed,  and  numerous  spells 
uttered.  Such  religious  magic  is  nearly  always 
performed  by  command  of  the  authorities,  who,  of 
course,  in  times  of  threatened  failure  of  the  harvest 


178  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

are  always  in  dread  of  famine.  It  is  also  per- 
formed when  there  is  a  plague  of  locusts,  in  sick- 
ness or  epidemics;  when  there  is  an  impending 
revolt  or  war,  and  on  occasions  of  flood,  or  con- 
flagrations— in  short,  whenever  danger  threatens 
which  must  be  averted.  Taoist  priests  may  then 
be  seen  officiating  at  the  same  place,  performing 
religious  magic  of  their  own. 

Since  then  the  sacred  books  avert  all  evil  from 
mankind,  and  make  mankind  in  every  way  not 
merely  happy,  but  holy,  even  in  the  highest  bud- 
dhistic degree,  it  stands  to  reason  that  in  the  golden 
age  of  China's  Buddhism  the  number  of  these  sutras 
increased  infinitely.  Learned  clerics  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  translation  of  them  from  Sanskrit  and 
Pali,  and  apparently  wrote  a  good  many  themselves, 
thus  acquitting  themselves  of  the  holy  duty  of  in- 
creasing the  ways  of  salvation.  Pious  monks 
undertook  pilgrimages  to  India,  in  order  to  collect 
there  the  sacred  writings  and  bring  them  to  China. 
Some  have  left  records  of  their  travels,  which  are 
of  very  great  value  for  our  knowledge  of  their  holy 
land,  and  other  countries.  Among  the  most  famous 
pilgrims  are  Fah-hien,  who  entered  upon  his  journey 
in  399 ;  Sung-yun,  whose  travels  took  place  between 


BUDDHISM  179 

518  and  522;  and  I-tsing,  who  lived  from  634  to 
713 ;  but  particularly  renowned  is  Huen-chwang, 
who  was  absent  from  his  home  from  629  to  645. 

We  may,  of  course,  consider  the  Chinese  Bud- 
dhist literature  to  date  from  the  very  moment  of 
the  introduction  of  the  religion  in  China.  No  less 
than  2213  works  are  mentioned  in  the  oldest  cata- 
logue of  the  year  518  of  our  era;  276  of  these  are 
now  in  existence.  In  A.D.  972  the  holy  books  were 
for  the  first  time  printed  collectively,  and  since  that 
time  several  Tripitaka  editions  were  made  in  China, 
Corea,  and  Japan.  In  China,  owing  to  the  general 
decay  of  monachism,  probably  no  complete  editions 
exist  any  longer,  but,  fortunately,  copies  of  several 
editions  have  found  their  way  into  Japan.  In 
1586,  the  Japanese  priest,  Mi-tsang,  began  a  reprint 
of  the  Tripitaka  made  at  Peking  under  T'ai-tsung  of 
the  Ming  dynasty,  who  reigned  from  1403-1424;  it 
was  finished  after  his  death.  In  1681  it  was  care- 
fully reprinted.  A  copy  of  it  is  in  Leiden  Uni- 
versity, another  in  the  India  Office  Library  in 
London.  Within  a  few  years  an  excellent  and 
cheap  edition  in  movable  types  has  been  made  by 
a  scientific  society  in  Tokio,  which  purposes  the 
collection  and  reproduction  of  everything  which 


ISO  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

may  throw  light  on  Japan's  history  and  culture; 
and  since  that  same  society  has  even  prepared  a 
supplement,  containing  everything  else  which  at  the 
present  time  exists  in  the  Buddhist  field,  the  Bud- 
dhist sacred  literature  of  East  Asia  need  no  longer 
be  missing  in  any  considerable  scientific  library  of 
the  world.  The  Japanese  collection  is  in  the 
Chinese  language,  which  has  remained  to  this  day 
the  sacred  language  of  the  Buddhist  church  in  the 
Land  of  Sunrise. 

The  great  Sutra  of  Brahma's  Net  also  makes  it 
a  law  for  all  seekers  of  salvation  to  secure  and 
further  each  other's  welfare  and  holiness  by  pious 
wishes.  Good  wishes,  on  the  supposition  that  they 
are  made  with  fervent  honesty,  have  efficiency. 
They  are  uttered  at  almost  every  ceremony,  every 
act  of  the  brethren  of  the  monastery,  and  give  a 
special  impress  of  devoutness  to  their  life.  The 
common  daily  matins,  or  early  service  in  the  church 
of  the  monastery,  consisting  principally  in  the  re- 
citation of  a  sutra  devoted  to  the  buddha  of  the 
east,  Amitabha's  counterpart,  concludes  with  a 
comprehensive  wish  for  the  welfare  of  all  crea- 
tures. Side  by  side  with  such  wishes,  the  brethren 
continually  utter  an  oath  to  the  effect  that  they  will 


BUDDHISM  l8l 

endeavor  to  secure  the  happiness  of  all  creatures, 
as  well  as  to  cultivate  in  their  own  persons  the  wis- 
dom of  the  buddhas.  In  this  way  do  they  zealously 
minister  to  general  progress  on  the  way  to  salvation. 

An  important  monastic  method  for  the  attain- 
ment of  holiness  is  the  dhyana.  It  consists  in 
deep  meditations,  carried  on  for  a  long  time,  on 
salvation,  and  by  this  means  its  reality  is  obtained. 
Thought,  indeed,  produces  this  reality;  it  has  crea- 
tive force ;  it  acts  like  magic.  In  the  larger  monas- 
teries there  are  rooms,  or  a  hall,  specially  devoted 
to  this  work  of  meditation,  where  the  monks  bury 
themselves  in  quiet  reflection,  or  in  a  state  of 
somnolence.  The  winter  months  are  specially  de- 
voted to  this  pious  exercise. 

Finally,  I  must  mention  the  exercises  of  repent- 
ance and  confession  of  sin,  which  are  performed 
every  morning  at  the  early  service.  Of  course  it 
is  impossible  for  man  to  walk  in  the  way  of  salva- 
tion with  good  results  unless  he  is  continually  purged 
from  sins  which  lead  astray.  As  this  daily  cleans- 
ing hardly  suffices,  the  monks  have  introduced 
another:  the  so-called  poshadha,  which  takes  place 
at  each  new  moon  and  full  moon.  On  this  and  on 
other  occasions  as  they  think  fit,  they  purge  them- 


l82  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

selves  from  their  sins  by  recitations  of  a  certain 
sutra  which  Buddha  preached  to  men  for  this  pur- 
pose; and  they  also  say  litanies  consisting  of  the 
names  of  innumerable  buddhas,  and  use  many  other 
rites  for  the  same  end. 

These  few  lines  may  suffice  to  sketch  the  aim 
and  purpose  of  Buddhist  monastic  life.  I  think 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  represents  the  highest  stage 
of  devotion  and  piety  to  which,  to  this  day,  man  in 
East  Asia  has  been  able  to  raise  himself.  Its  prin- 
ciple, love  and  devotion  for  every  creature  endowed 
with  life,  carried  up  far  above  the  level  of  practical 
use,  to  a  height  almost  fantastical,  fanatical,  is  the 
woof  of  Brahma's  Net;  the  warp  of  this  net  is  com- 
passion, disinterestedness,  altruism  in  various  forms 
— virtues,  but  for  which  the  realm  of  the  buddhas 
is  inaccessible.  The  interdiction  to  kill  is  absolute. 
It  is  the  very  first  commandment,  including  also 
interdiction  to  eat  flesh,  fish,  or  insects,  or  to  do 
anything  whatever  which  might  endanger  a  life. 
It  is,  as  a  consequence,  even  forbidden  to  trade  in 
animals,  or  to  keep  cats  or  dogs,  because  these  are 
carnivorous  beasts,  or  to  make  fire  unless  necessary, 
or  to  possess  or  sell  any  sharp  instruments,  or 
weapons,  nets,  or  snares.  "Thou  shalt  not  be  an 


BUDDHISM  183 

ambassador,  because  by  thy  agency  a  war  might 
break  out;  warriors  or  armies  thou  shalt  not  even 
look  at.  Thou  shalt  not  bind  anybody ..." 

Drawn  out  to  its  farthest  consequences  also  is 
the  interdiction  to  steal.  It  prohibits  incorrect 
weights  and  measures,  and  arson.  The  command- 
ment against  untruthfulness  and  lying  includes  all 
cheating  by  word  and  gesture,  all  backbiting  or 
calumny,  even  the  mention  of  faults  and  sins  of  the 
brethren  in  the  faith.  Further,  the  principle  of 
universal  love  causes  the  Code  of  Brahma's  Net  to 
forbid  slave-dealing  and  slave-keeping;  the  honor 
of  having  prohibited  slavery  at  least  fifteen  hundred 
years  ago,  therefore  pertains  to  Buddhism.  Com- 
plete forgiveness  for  any  wrong  whatsoever  is 
ordained — all  revenge,  even  for  the  murder  of  a 
father  and  mother,  is  forbidden.  Remarkably  con- 
trasted herewith  is  the  doctrine  of  Confucius. 
According  to  the  Li  Ki,  one  of  the  classics,  "Tsze-  ' 
hia  asked  him,  saying:  How  should  a  son  conduct 
himself  who  has  to  avenge  the  murder  of  his  father 
or  mother?  The  Master  said:  He  should  sleep  on 
straw,  with  his  shield  for  a  pillow;  he  should  not 
take  office;  he  must  not  live  with  the  slayer  under 
the  same  heaven.  And  if  he  meet  with  him,  be  it 


184  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

in  the  market  or  even  in  the  royal  court — he  must 
not  turn  away  his  weapon,  but  fight  with  him." 

The  Buddhist  code  does  not,  of  course,  merely 
preach  abstinence  from  crime  and  sin,  but  also 
active  cultivation  of  virtue;  a  natural  consequence, 
indeed,  of  its  great  principle  of  promoting  the  good 
and  salvation  of  every  one.  It  ordains  the  rescue 
of  creatures  from  imminent  death  always  and  every- 
where, the  giving  of  possessions  to  others  without 
the  slightest  regret  or  avarice,  especially  to  brethren 
in  the  faith ;  thou  shalt  sell  for  them  thy  kingdom, 
thy  children,  whatever  thou  possessest,  even  the 
flesh  of  thine  own  body;  nay,  thou  shalt  give  thy 
flesh  to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  wild  beasts.  All 
injury,  insult,  calumny  which  falleth  on  others  shalt 
thou  divert  upon  thyself.  Thou  shalt  hide  thine 
own  virtue  and  excellence,  lest  they  eclipse  those  of 
others.  It  is  further  ordained  to  nurse  the  sick,  to 
ransom  slaves.  It  is  strictly  forbidden  to  do  any- 
thing which  might  induce  another  to  a  sinful  act, 
and  as  a  consequence  might  be  an  impediment  in  his 
way  to  salvation;  such  as  to  sell  spirituous  liquors 
or  to  facilitate  their  sale ;  or  to  commit  incest,  since 
such  an  act  also  makes  another  person  sin. 

Salvation   being   the   alpha    and    the    omega    of 


BUDDHISM  185 

Brahma's  Net,  the  code  which  bears  its  name 
abounds  with  rescripts  on  the  preaching  of  the  doc- 
trine and  the  laws.  The  commandments  must  be 
learned  by  heart,  recited  constantly,  printed  and 
reprinted,  published  over  and  over  again:  thou 
shalt  to  this  end — thus  it  proclaims — tear  off  thine 
own  skin  for  paper,  use  thy  blood  for  ink,  thy  bones 
for  writing  pencils.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a 
grave  sin  to  refuse  to  listen  to  sermons  on  the  holy 
religion,  or  to  treat  carelessly  any  foreign  preacher 
or  apostle ;  they  all  must  be  hospitably  received,  and 
requested  to  preach  three  times  a  day,  and  from  all 
sides  disciples  and  monks  must  run  to  him  to  hear. 
Religious  books  must  be  treated  with  idolatrous 
care,  and  even  sacrifices  must  be  offered  to  them, 
as  if  they  were  living  saints. 

As  we  might  expect,  the  code  of  Brahma's  Net 
does  not  fail  to  mention  conventual  life.  It  de- 
mands that  convents  shall  be  erected  with  parks, 
forests,  fields,  that  is  to  say,  with  grounds  on  the 
products  of  which  the  monks  may  live.  It  ordains 
the  erection  of  pagodas  of  Buddha  for  the  exercise 
of  dhyana,  and  forbids  mandarins  to  hinder  their 
erection,  or  confiscate  any  of  their  possessions.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  history  has  many  cases  to  record 


l86  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE    CHINESE 

of  zealots  who  founded  monasteries,  or  gave  of 
their  wealth  to  increase  their  estate  and  income, 
and  therewith  the  number  of  their  monks.  Yet  in 
by  far  the  majority  of  cases  have  they  been  erected 
and  supported  for  the  regulation  of  the  climate,  or, 
as  the  Chinese  themselves  say,  for  fung-shui  pur- 
poses (p.  73  ff.).  Since  the  fourth  century  of  our 
era  I  find  mention  of  the  erection  of  convents  in 
mountains  where  dragons  caused  thunderstorms 
and  tempests,  floods  and  inundations,  with  the 
object  of  bridling  these  imaginary  beasts;  or  where, 
on  the  contrary,  monks  had  conjured  away  droughts 
by  compelling  dragons  to  send  down  their  rains; 
and  a  fact  it  is  that,  to  this  day,  people  and  man- 
darins openly  confess  that  such  institutions  exist 
for  hardly  any  purpose  but  regulation  of  winds 
(fung}  and  rainfall  (shui),  and,  consequently,  to 
secure  good  crops,  so  often  endangered  in  treeless 
China  by  droughts.  Thus  it  is  that  convents  are 
generally  found  in  mountains  which  send  down  the 
water  but  for  which  cultivation  of  rice  and  other 
products  in  the  valleys  is  impossible ;  thus  it  is  that, 
conversely,  the  people,  thus  protected,  support  the 
convents  with  gifts  for  which  the  monks  are  bound 
to  perform  their  sutra  readings  and  their  religious 


BUDDHISM  187 

magic  for  the  success  of  agriculture.  And  it  is 
on  the  same  important  considerations  that  man- 
darins, however  thoroughly  Confucian  they  are, 
support  the  convents,  and  lack  the  courage  to 
sequestrate  and  demolish  them. 

The  influence  of  a  Buddhist  convent  on  weather 
and  rainfall  is  merely  due  to  the  fact  that  it  har- 
bors in  its  central  or  principal  part,  which  is  con- 
sidered the  great  sanctuary  or  church,  three  large 
images  of  the  Triratna,  that  is  to  say,  of  the 
dharma  or  order  of  the  universe,  the  Buddha  or  the 
universal  light,  and  the  sangha  or  assembly  of 
bodhisattwas,  dewas,  arhats,  and  the  whole  host  of 
saints  who  perform  their  role  in  the  revolutions 
of  the  universe.  The  place  of  the  images  of  these 
three  highest  universal  powers  has  been  calculated 
with  the  utmost  care  by  fung-shui  professors,  so 
that  all  the  favorable  influences  of  the  heavens, 
mountains,  rivers,  etc.,  converge  on  them,  and  may 
be  emitted  by  their  holy  bodies  over  the  whole  coun- 
try around.  In  many  cases  a  pagoda  is  erected  to 
the  same  purpose  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  convent,  on  an  elevated  spot  commanding  a 
wide  horizon.  It  contains  an  animated  image  of 
Buddha,  or,  if  possible,  a  genuine  relic  of  his  own 


l88  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

body,  in  consequence  of  which  it  becomes  a  depos- 
itory of  universal  light,  always  driving  away  the 
maras,  or  spirits  of  darkness  and  evil.  Such  a 
tower  therefore  protects  and  blesses  the  whole 
country  bounded  by  its  horizon,  as  the  Buddha 
himself  in  his  own  person  would  do. 

Seeing  that  the  holy  sutra  of  Brahma's  Net  is  the 
very  basis  of  the  system  of  Buddhist  religious  life 
in  the  Far  East,  the  principal  instrument  of  the 
great  Buddhist  art  of  salvation,  it  certainly  deserves 
to  be  called  the  most  important  of  the  sacred  books 
of  the  East.  Its  importance  is  also  paramount  from 
the  fact  that  it  has  exercised  its  influence  for  at 
least  1500  years,  if  the  general  statement  is  correct 
that  a  preface  was  written  to  it  by  Sang  Chao,  who 
lived  in  the  fourth  and  in  the  fifth  centuries  of  our 
era.  A  study  of  that  influence  is  a  study  of  the 
history  of  Mahayana  Buddhism  itself,  as  it  has  not 
only  prevailed  in  China,  but  also  in  Indo-China, 
Korea,  and  Japan.  Such  study  might  show  that 
the  book  has  been  the  mightiest  instrument  for  the 
amelioration  of  customs  and  the  mitigation  of 
cruelty  in  Asia.  But  on  the  other  hand  it  might 
show  that  its  influence  has  not  passed  so  far  be- 
yond the  pales  of  conventual  life  as  we  might 


BUDDHISM  189 

desire,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  church  of  Bud- 
dha, in  spite  of  its  spirit  of  benevolence  and  uni- 
versal devotion  to  all  beings  endowed  with  life, 
has  never  found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  stern  Con- 
fucianism. 


CHAPTER  VII 
BUDDHISM — II 

CERTAINLY  the  career  of  Buddhism  cannot  be  said 
to  have  been  a  happy  one.  I  think  that,  on  account 
of  its  noble  principles  of  humanitarianism,  it  might 
have  deserved  a  better  fate.  It  had  no  lasting  suc- 
cess in  India,  where  it  was  born;  Brahmanism  and 
Shivaism  there  have  actually  superseded,  not  to  say 
destroyed  it.  Nor  has  it  met  with  better  fortune 
in  the  empire  of  China.  There  it  has  never  been 
able  to  supplant  Confucianism,  the  religion  of  the 
state.  On  the  contrary,  after  some  centuries  of 
considerable  prosperity  and  growth,  a  strong  re- 
action against  it  set  in  from  the  Confucian  side, 
reducing  in  course  of  time  the  church  and  its 
monachism  to  the  pitiable  state  in  which  we  know 
it  at  the  present  day. 

We  have  already  read  something  on  this  topic  in 
Chapter  IV,  in  the  pages  relating  to  the  Confucian 
spirit  of  intolerance  and  persecution,  and  have  seen 
that  the  church  was  not  destroyed  totally,  since  in 

particular  the  worship  of  the  dead  saved  it.     Sal- 

190 


BUDDHISM  IQI 

vation  of  the  dead  was,  indeed,  an  art  which  no 
other  religion  could  exercise  in  so  high  a  degree  of 
perfection;  no  other  but  Buddha's  church,  in 
obedience  to  the  commandments  of  Brahma's  Net, 
could  redeem  the  departed  from  hell,  and  could 
elevate  them  to  arhatship,  to  dewaship,  nay,  the 
dignity  of  the  bodhisattwas  and  even  the  buddhas. 
To  this  august  end  the  church  had  its  magical 
sutras,  its  tantras,  or  spells.  It  practised  to  the- 
same  purpose  its  wonderful  dhyana  art,  for  by 
fixedly  imagining  that  the  souls  in  hell,  hungry, 
thirsty,  indescribably  miserable,  are  fed,  clothed, 
Refreshed  and  released,  the  clergy  magically  re- 
freshed and  redeemed  them  in  reality.  There  was 
even  more :  Amitabha,  the  buddha  of  the  paradise, 
and  Kwanyin  or  Avalokitecvara,  the  goddess  of 
mercy,  were,  on  the  frequent  repetition  of  their 
names,  always  ready  not  only  to  save  the  living,  but 
the  departed  as  well.  Combined  with  Confucian 
rites  and  sacrifices,  Buddhist  ceremonies  were  fash- 
ioned into  grand  masses  for  the  departed  souls,  and 
these  were  celebrated  by  the  clergy  of  Buddha 
even  in  good  Confucian  families.  Moreover,  the 
whole  seventh  month  of  every  year  was  devoted  to 
the  refreshment  of  the  souls  of  the  departed  gen- 


THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

erally,  and  their  deliverance  from  hell.  The  clergy, 
consecrated  and  unconsecrated,  both  those  living  in 
temples  and  convents  as  well  as  in  ordinary  dwell- 
ings, are  to  this  day  employed  in  the  main  in  this 
work  of  deliverance,  and  make  a  livelihood  by  it. 

It  is,  of  course,  worth  while  collecting  from  writ- 
ings the  reasons  for  the  antagonism  and  spirit  of 
persecution  manifested  by  the  Confucian  world  to 
this  day  against  this  foreign  religion.  The  chief 
reproach  was  that  the  people  were  deceived  and  led 
astray  by  Buddhism,  as  it  did  not,  like  Confu- 
cianism, give  truth  pure  and  unalloyed.  Especially 
its  tenets  concerning  the  possibility  of  raising  the 
dead  unto  a  condition  of  higher  bliss,  are  idle 
gossip;  its  ceremonies  instituted  for  that  purpose 
are,  as  a  consequence,  absolutely  valueless,  nay, 
even  harmful  because  of  the  outlays  which  they 
entail.  Since  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  the 
age  of  man  has  been  considerably  shortened.  No 
dynasty  since  that  time  has  been  able  to  maintain 
itself  on  the  throne  for  any  great  length  of  time, 
and  this  point  history  accidentally  shows  to  be 
correct  during  the  period  between  the  Han  dynasty 
and  the  seventh  century  of  our  era.  It  was  there- 
fore as  clear  as  clear  can  be:  this  religion  was 


BUDDHISM  193 

dangerous  to  every  emperor  individually,  dangerous 
also  to  his  dynasty.  This  precarious  phenomenon 
is  directly  brought  into  connection  with  the  alarming 
increase  of  faithlessness  and  treason  amongst  the 
ministers  towards  their  sovereign,  and  their  in- 
creased stupidity,  and  their  cruelty  towards  the 
people — a  charge  which  we  should  prefer  to  call 
either  far-fetched  or  insinuation.  But  what  can 
we  say  about  the  appeal  to  the  longevity  of  sov- 
ereigns and  the  duration  of  dynastic  governments 
in  an  ideal  antiquity  of  which  we  really  know  so 
very  little,  but  Confucianists  know  everything  at 
least  everything  worth  knowing,  thanks  to  their 
classics,  which  are  in  their  eyes  the  truth  and  noth- 
ing but  the  truth?  Its  insipidity  has  not  prevented 
that  appeal  from  remaining  .to  this  day  a  main 
theme  in  all  anti-buddhistic  argument. 

Under  the  T'ang  dynasty,  which  began  to  reign 
in  the  seventh  century,  anti-Buddhism  possessed 
yet  other  weapons.  Why  be  a  Buddhist,  thus 
statesmen  argued,  when  one  sees  that  some  em- 
perors and  members  of  imperial  families,  most 
zealous  sons  and  daughters  of  this  religion,  came 
to  a  miserable  end  ?  Why  tolerate  their  clergy,  that 
class  of  useless  drones,  idlers,  and  beggars,  who,  by 
13 


\IQ4  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

not  devoting  themselves  to  agriculture,  rob  the 
treasuries  by  paying  no  ground  rent  or  land  tax  to 
the  Son  of  Heaven,  and  who,  by  remaining  unmar- 
ried, do  not  give  birth  to  any  soldiers  for  his 
majesty's  armies,  and  therefore  are  an  impediment 
to  the  spread  and  maintenance  of  his  dominion  of 
glory  and  bliss  to  the  uttermost  confines  of  the 
earth?  Their  celibacy,  moreover,  impoverishes  the 
people,  as  it  deprives  husbandry  and  the  silk  indus- 
try of  many  producing  hands  yet  unborn.  On  the 
other  hand,  their  religious  works  encourage  waste 
of  money,  especially  spent  in  the  erection  of  tem- 
ples and  monasteries. 

And  their  ethical  doctrines  ?  These  are  decidedly 
of  a  low  order,  because  they  pursue  other  felicity 
than  that  of  a  worldly  nature.  Buddhism  would  be 
all  right  if  it  preached  nothing  else  than  mental 
quiet,  compassion,  and  charity,  the  doing  of  good 
and  the  avoiding  of  evil  in  this  earthly  existence ; 
but  why  drown  all  this  in  a  sea  of  idle  stories  which 
lead  to  misconception  ?  In  truth,  it  is  by  no  means 
astonishing  to  see  such  a  line  of  argument  used  by 
ardent  partisans  of  Confucianism,  which  teaches 
that,  as  long  as  there  is  slavish  submission  and 
devotion  to  parents  and  sovereigns,  all  human  per- 


BUDDHISM  195 

fection  will  be  produced  spontaneously  by  virtue  of 
the  Tao,  without  any  further  activity  or  exertion 
of  any  kind  being  required.  Quite  natural  also 
it  is  that  in  anti-buddhistic  writings  there  is  not 
a  word  of  appreciation  of  the  pious  sentiment 
wherewith  in  this  religion,  by  the  practice  of  virtue 
and  charity  towards  fellow  creatures,  there  is 
sought  a  higher  state  of  perfection  and  bliss  than 
this  world  can  give.  This  aspiration,  its  center  of 
gravity,  rests  on  lies  and  fiction,  for  nothing  of  the 
soul  is  found  in  the  Confucian  classics.  Therefore, 
all  doctrines  leading  up  to  this  one  and  only  Bud- 
dhist goal  are  heretical,  and  should  be  exterminated 
without  delay,  to  give  room  once  more  for  the 
dogmas  of  Confucius  and  his  school.  A  chilling 
and  absolute  denial  of  the  worth  of  religious  senti- 
ment and  moral  elevation,  which  are  the  necessary 
effects  of  a  striving  after  perfection  in  this  world 
and  in  the  world  to  come,  is  one  of  the  chief  fea- 
tures of  all  anti-buddhistic  writings. 

One  of  the  main  principles  of  Buddhism  so  flatly 
contradicts  a  fundamental  tenet  of  Confucian  doc- 
trine that  it  precluded  once  and  forever  all  chance 
of  reconciliation  between  the  two  powers.  Retire- 
ment from  the  world  into  a  convent  passes  in  the 


196  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

Buddhist  religion  for  the  main  road  to  salvation. 
To  the  Confucian,  however,  such  a  breach  of  the 
ties  by  which  nature  has  united  children  to  parents 
and  relations,  is  a  sin  against  the  sacred  hiao,  or 
duty  of  filial  submission  and  devotion,  preached  by 
the  classics  and  the  sages  of  all  times ;  it  is  a  crim- 
inal act  of  the  worst  kind,  an  execrable  sin  against 
nature  itself  and  the  Tao]  and  words  fail  where- 
with to  condemn  its  wickedness.  How  low,  how 
degenerate,  must  have  been  the  character  of  Bud- 
dha, the  founder  of  that  very  religion,  who  himself 
set  the  example  of  such  criminal  proceeding !  And 
a  monk  or  nun  does  not  marry  and  found  a  family, 
while  Confucianism  most  emphatically  demands, 
for  the  sake  of  the  same  hiao  principle,  that  every 
person  shall  have  male  descendants,  in  order  that 
the  prescribed  sacrifices  for  his  deceased  parents 
and  ancestors  may  be  continued  after  his  death, 
and  by  the  offspring  throughout  all  ages.  For  did 
not  Mencius  exclaim:  "Three  in  number  are  the 
great  sins  against  the  hiao,  but  to  have  no  posterity 
is  worse  than  any"  (p.  81).  Abundant  reason 
therefore  for  the  Confucians  to  despise  and  scorn 
Buddhism;  to  assail  it  without  mercy,  wherever 
found  and  under  whatever  conditions;  to  consider 


BUDDHISM  197 

the  use  of  any  weapons  justifiable,  even  those  of 
exaggeration,  satire,  gall,  and  venom.  Slander  in 
particular  often  plays  an  important  part  in  anti- 
buddhistic  writings,  especially  on  the  score  of 
sexual  immorality  among  the  clergy.  How,  in 
truth,  could  a  church  fare  differently  at  the  hands 
of  its  sworn  enemies,  if  it  admits  women  into  its 
pale,  placing  them  in  matters  of  salvation  and  the 
means  thereto  on  a  level  with  men,  while  at  the 
same  time  preaching  celibacy? 

There  is  still  one  great  Confucian  argument 
against  Buddhism  which  I  must  not  leave  unmen- 
tioned.  It  was  set  forth  with  venomous  indigna- 
tion as  early  as  the  year  624,  by  the  great  minister 
Fu  Yih.  Buddhism  preaches  the  existence  of  other 
punishments  besides  those  which  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment inflicts,  other  rewards  than  those  conferred 
and  allotted  by  the  emperor  and  his  mandarins. 
Well,  is  it  not  clear  that  this  is  a  shameless  encroach- 
ment upon  the  imperial  power,  that  is  to  say,  high 
treason?  Indeed,  the  Shu,  the  venerable  Confu- 
cian classic,  emphatically  states:  'The  sovereign 
alone  creates  blessings  and  holds  out  threats;  to 
him  belongs  all  that  is  precious  and  edible;  and  if 
his  subjects  create  blessings  and  inspire  fear,  or 


198  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  CHINESE 

appropriate  treasures  or  food,  they  damage  his 
house,  they  bring  misfortune  upon  his  dynasty; 
then  the  men  in  his  service  further  other  interests 
than  his,  and  become  corrupt." 

A  curious  piece  of  state  doctrine!  On  the  au- 
thority of  this  dictum  of  one  of  the  chief  classical 
books,  every  religion  stands  indicted  with  encroach- 
ment upon  the  imperial  autocracy,  that  is,  with  high 
treason,  if,  by  preaching  the  existence  of  other  than 
terrestrial  punishments  or  rewards,  it  deters  man- 
kind from  evil,  and  encourages  it  to  do  good.  For 
the  sovereign  alone  has  the  right  to  punish  and  to 
recompense!  The  classical  principles  are  as  much 
in  force  now  as  they  were  in  the  seventh  century. 
Christians  and  Christian  missionaries  may  remem- 
ber, therefore,  that,  on  account  of  their  doctrines 
of  reward  in  paradise  and  punishment  in  hell,  on 
account  even  of  their  penitences  for  sins  committed, 
they,  like  the  Buddhists,  x  stand  convicted  in  that 
country  of  violation  of  the  imperial  rights,  of 
sapping  the  imperial  authority,  of  sowing  moral 
corruption  among  the  mandarinate;  in  a  word, 
they  disorganize  and  demoralize  China's  govern- 
ment, and  are  therefore  all  liable  to  the  penalty  of 
death.  And  again,  by  collecting  money  from  con- 


BUDDHISM  199 

verts  for  the  maintenance  of  their  churches,  as  the 
Buddhists  do,  they,  like  the  latter,  defraud  the 
imperial  house  and  sap  the  dynasty;  the  highest 
Confucian  bible  of  politics  itself  has  declared  it ! 
Thus  may  anti-buddhistic  reasoning  enable  us  to 
understand  the  antipathetic  feelings  of  the  govern- 
ing class  towards  Christian  doctrines  and  missions. 
The  persecutions  themselves,  to  which  Buddhism 
has  for  long  centuries  been  a  prey,  are  likewise 
highly  instructive  for  Christianity,  for,  in  fact,  per- 
secution of  Christianity  is  a  fruit  of  the  very  same 
Confucian  intolerance.  When,  under  the  Han 
dynasty,  Buddhism  had  secured  for  itself  a  place  in 
Chinese  society,  it  enjoyed  a  period  of  prosperous 
development  which  reached  its  climax  in  the  fifth 
century  of  our  era.  At  that  time  the  northern  lands 
of  the  empire  were  subject  to  the  Tartar  house  of 
Toba,  also  known  as  the  Northern  Wei  dynasty. 
The  residence  of  this  house  was  a  hotbed  of  monas- 
tic life.  This  house  produced  a  sovereign  who  was 
to  be  the  first  to  lay  violent  hands  upon  Buddhism. 
This  was  Wu,  the  Warlike,  who  reigned  from 
A.D.  424  to  452.  He  was  a  stanch  admirer  of  Con- 
fucianism, but,  says  the  historian,  "as  he  professed 
the  Buddhist  religion  and  appreciated  its  clergy,  he 


2OO  THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  CHINESE 

had  so  far  not  patronized  the  school  of  the 
classics."  It  happened  then  during  the  suppres- 
sion of  a  rebellion,  that  the  emperor  and  his  armies 
were  encamped  near  a  monastery,  in  one  of  the  side 
rooms  of  which  some  arms  were  discovered.  This 
proved,  he  thought,  that  the  monks  made  common 
cause  with  the  rebels.  His  mandarins  tried  and 
executed  the  monks;  the  monastery  was  sacked, 
and  a  large  quantity  of  ingredients  for  the  fabrica- 
tion of  spirituous  liquors  was  found,  as  also  vast 
treasures,  entrusted  to  the  care  of  the  monks  by 
nobles  and  wealthy  persons  in  the  district.  Certain 
grottoes  which  they  discovered  were  held  to  be  the 
haunts  of  monks  with  women  of  good  family.  Now 
the  emperor  stormed,  and  he  decreed,  "that  the 
monks  should  be  put  to  death,  and  the  Buddhist 
images  should  be  burned  or  smashed;  every  one 
should  deliver  the  monks  to  the  authorities;  every 
one  who  concealed  a  monk  should  be  put  to  death, 
together  with  his  whole  family/'  This  occurred 
in  444.  Another  decree  prescribed  that  whosoever 
had  the  boldness  to  worship  any  western  deities,  or 
to  make  images  of  them,  should  be  executed  with 
his  family ;  that  the  governors  should  demolish  or 
burn  all  temples  and  pagodas,  images  and  sacred 


BUDDHISM  201 

books,  and  throw  down  the  precipices  all  monks, 
young  or  old." 

No  statistics  are  given  us  of  this  iconoclasm  and 
slaughter;  but  Asiatics  to  this  day,  whenever  they 
take  to  murdering,  are  wont  to  do  thorough  work. 
Many  of  the  clergy  may,  of  course,  have  escaped 
with  their  lives,  but,  says  the  historian,  "temples 
and  pagodas,  and  the  buildings  where  the  doctrine 
was  preached,  were  all  effectually  destroyed  to  the 
very  last." 

A  few  years  later  a  persecution  broke  out  in  one 
of  the  empires  in  the  south,  named  Lung,  but  I 
have  not  found  out  any  particulars  concerning  the 
scale  on  which  it  raged.  In  the  year  573  a  curious 
synod  of  the  three  religions  was  convoked  by  the 
emperor  Wu  of  the  Northern  Ts'i  dynasty,  with 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  which  of  them  was  the 
best.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  first  place 
was  assigned  to  Confucianism,  the  second  to 
Taoism,  and  the  last  to  Buddha's  church;  and,  of 
course,  as  there  can  be  only  one  true  religion,  the 
extermination  of  the  two  others  was  resolved  upon 
at  once.  In  the  following  year,  thus  we  read  in  the 
official  standard  history  of  that  dynasty,  Buddhism 
and  Taoism  were  proscribed,  the  sacred  books, 


202  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  CHINESE 

together  with  the  images,  destroyed  altogether. 
Buddhist  and  Taoist  priests  were  no  longer  allowed 
to  exist,  and  all  were  ordered  to  become  laymen. 
All  sacrifices  were  strictly  prohibited,  except  those 
mentioned  in  the  Confucian  canon  of  Religion  and 
Rites.  Two  millions  of  Buddhists  and  Taoists  had 
to  forsake  the  ecclesiastical  state. 

The  T'ang  dynasty  was  destined  to  destroy  the 
prosperity  of  the  Buddhist  religion  forever.  The 
three  centuries  embracing  the  reign  of  this  house, 
which  commenced  in  618,  were  an  epoch  of  aggres- 
sive war,  by  which  the  glory  of  the  church  departed 
forever  and  her  strength  declined, — an  epoch  in 
which  she  entered  upon  a  decadent  existence,  not 
ceasing  to  show,  however,  to  the  present  day,  a 
remarkable  tenacity  of  life. 

In  624,  when  the  first  emperor  of  the  house  of 
T'ang  had  occupied  the  throne  for  hardly  six  years, 
the  campaign  was  opened  by  the  high  minister  Fu 
Yih,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken.  He  pro- 
posed, in  a  memorial,  to  do  away  with  Buddhism 
altogether.  This  remarkable  state  document  exists 
to  this  day,  probably  in  its  entirety.  Among  other 
things,  it  demonstrates  a  thing  most  easy  to  prove, 
viz.,  that  neither  emperors  nor  dynasties  have  by 


BUDDHISM  203 

any  means  always  saved  their  lives  and  thrones  by 
being  Buddhists.  Happily  the  emperor  was  pre- 
vented by  his  death  from  carrying  out  Fu  Yih's 
advice  otherwise  than  in  theory,  that  is  to  say,  on 
paper.  It  gives  evidence  of  the  great  vital  strength 
of  Buddhism,  and  its  firm  hold  upon  the  people  and 
the  court,  that  this  energetic  campaign  of  Fu  Yih 
and  other  grandees,  who  no  doubt  sided  with  him 
in  great  numbers,  before  his  death  as  well  as  after 
it,  remained  for  a  time  without  result.  It  was,  in 
fact,  not  until  almost  a  whole  century  had  elapsed, 
that  the  imperial  government  gave  way,  and  began 
to  take  forcible  measures  against  the  church. 

A  memorial  which  the  magnate,  Yao  Ch'ung, 
then  at  the  summit  of  his  glory  and  power,  pre- 
sented to  the  emperor  in  714,  gave  the  impulse.  It 
caused  the  emperor  to  order  secret  inquisition  into 
the  conduct  of  the  clergy,  and  more  than  12,000 
monks  and  priests  were  sent  back  into  the  lay 
world.  Since  that  moment  we  observe  a  steady 
progress  of  Confucian  power  in  natural  alliance 
with  enactment  of  imperial  laws,  the  object  of  which 
was  not  so  much  to  destroy  the  church  by  brute 
force  as  to  deprive  it  of  its  vital  strength  by  attack- 
ing it  at  its  very  root — its  conventual  life.  Edicts 


204  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

appear,  allowing  ordination  to  limited  numbers  of 
persons  only  in  certain  monasteries  specially 
authorized  thereto ;  and  these  numbers,  which  are 
strikingly  small  to  begin  with,  are  revised  from 
time  to  time,  i.e.,  reduced  to  a  yet  lower  figure. 
The  number  of  the  monasteries  was  also  consider- 
ably reduced,  and  officers  were  appointed  by  the 
government  to  control  the  monks  and  their  doings, 
and  the  board  of  rites  had  to  register  the  clergy 
every  third  year.  And,  to  put  the  seal  to  the  work, 
the  consecration  certificate  was  invented — a  diploma 
to  be  awarded  by  the  secular  power,  without  which 
none  might  exercise  the  profession  of  a  monk  or 
priest.  Nay,  the  government  sold  these  documents 
for  money,  thus  exploiting  the  road  of  salvation  for 
the  benefit  of  the  treasury.  And  no  monastery 
might  be  erected  or  re-erected  without  a  special 
imperial  permit. 

An  important  point  of  all  these  legislative  meas- 
ures certainly  is  this,  that  all  succeeding  dynasties, 
including  that  which  possesses  the  throne  to-day, 
has  taken  them  over.  Meanwhile  the  Confucian 
mandarinate,  the  sworn  enemy  of  Buddhism,  never 
left  off  urging  the  imperial  government  to  yet 
harsher  measures.  Especially  famous  is  a  me- 


BUDDHISM  205 

morial,  in  which  in  819  the  celebrated  statesman, 
Han  Yii,  upbraided  his  imperial  master  for  his 
Buddhist  tendencies — famous  forever,  because  to 
this  day  every  Confucian  swears  by  it;  and  if  ever 
the  heresy-hunting  party  in  China  should  choose  a 
patron  saint,  no  doubt  Han  Yii  would  be  elected  to 
this  dignity  with  universal  acclamation. 

This  bold  memorial  cost  him  his  high  position  at 
court:  the  emperor  sent  him  away  as  governor  to 
Ch'ao-cheu,  in  distant  Kwangtung.  He  did  not 
live  to  see  the  triumph  of  the  great  anti-Buddhist 
movement  of  that  time,  for  it  was  not  until  835 
that  an  emperor  of  the  name  of  Wen  Tsung  inter- 
dicted by  decree  the  ordinations  of  Buddhist  monks 
and  nuns,  and  ordered  the  ejection  of  all  Buddhist 
images  and  altars  from  the  court.  Those  measures, 
however,  were  but  feeble  precursors  of  the  rigorous 
measures  by  which  Wu  Tsung,  Wen  Tsung's 
brother  and  successor,  was  to  immortalize  his  name. 

In  845  he  decreed  that  only  Confucianism  should 
prevail  in  the  world;  that  the  4600  convents  in  the 
empire,  and  the  40,000  religious  buildings  should 
be  pulled  down,  and  the  260,000  monks  and  nuns 
should  adopt  secular  life.  Herewith  the  glory  of 
the  church  was  gone  forever;  the  number  of  its 


2O6  THE  RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

monasteries  and  ascetics  remained  from  that  time 
at  a  minimum  level.  Wu  Tsung  suffered  a  few 
convents  to  remain  in  existence;  but  his  death, 
which  occurred  as  early  as  the  next  year,  induced 
his  successor  to  relax  his  rigor;  he  even  revoked 
his  father's  decree,  also  on  the  consideration  that 
the  fung-shui  of  the  empire  was  damaged  by  it 
(p.  112).  But  the  harm  had  been  done,  and  the 
state  henceforth  continued  to  give  Confucianism 
its  full  due ;  that  is  to  say,  the  laws  and  rescripts 
shackling  Buddha's  church  were  maintained  to  this 
day,  and  even  increased  in  severity. 

Those  of  the  now  reigning  dynasty,  taken  over 
from  the  house  of  Ming,  have  their  place  in  the 
Ta  Ts'ing  luh  li,  the  great  code  of  laws  of  the 
empire.  They  prohibit  any  erection  or  restoration 
of  Buddhist  or  Taoist  convents  without  special 
imperial  authorization,  and  that  any  clergyman 
shall  have  more  than  one  disciple,  or  adopt  this 
before  he  himself  is  forty  years  old.  The  result  of 
this  measure,  which  has  been  doing  its  work  for  at 
least  some  five  hundred  years,  has  been  that  the 
Taoist  monasteries  have  almost  entirely  disappeared, 
and  that  the  days  of  the  Buddhist  abbeys  seem 
numbered.  The  hundreds  of  stately  edifices  stand- 


BUDDHISM  2O7 

ing  out  elegantly  against  the  hills  and  mountains 
with  brightly  shining  tiled  roofs,  lofty  pagodas  and 
ancient  parks,  which,  as  books  profusely  inform  us, 
once  studded  the  empire,  picturesquely  breaking  the 
monotony  of  the  slopes;  buildings  where  the  pious 
sought  salvation  by  thousands,  crowding  the  Ma- 
hayana,  or  broad  way  to  eternal  perfection  and 
bliss,  and  whither  the  laity  flocked  to  receive  initia- 
tion into  a  life  according  to  the  holy  command- 
ments— these  institutions  can  now  be  counted  by 
dozens.  Crowds  of  sowers  no  longer  go  out  from 
there  to  scatter  in  all  directions  the  seed  of  faith 
and  piety;  no  religious  councils  or  synods,  such  as 
were  attended  by  thousands,  take  place  there  now. 
Of  many  of  these  buildings,  only  the  spacious  tem- 
ple halls  exist,  but  the  clergy  who  crowded  to  make 
them  resound  with  their  hymns  have  disappeared, 
all  but  a  few.  Nuns  are  a  rarity,  and  no  longer 
dwell  in  cloisters,  but  in  houses  among  the  laity. 
With  the  greater  part  of  the  convents,  religious 
learning  has  vanished.  Theological  studies  belong 
to  history;  philosophical  works  have  well-nigh  dis- 
appeared, and  to  collect  a  complete  canon  of  holy 
writings  has  become  an  impossibility  in  China. 
Propagation  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation,  through 


2O8  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

preaching,  which  the  Mahayana  principles  imposed 
upon  the  sons  of  Buddha  as  one  of  the  highest 
duties,  has  long  since  ceased.  In  short,  from  what- 
ever point  of  view  one  considers  the  matter,  reli- 
gious conventual  life  is  at  best  a  shadow  of  what 
it  was  in  past  centuries. 

Under  that  oppression  of  ages  the  Buddhist 
church  languished,  yet  did  not  perish.  Whence 
this  vitality?  Let  us  try  to  give  the  answer.  We 
see  the  Indian  religion  of  salvation,  which  made  its 
entrance  into  China  about  the  beginning  of  our  era, 
-  quickly  become  a  power  there.  Indeed,  neither 
Confucianism  nor  Taoism  had  been  able  to  satisfy 
the  human  craving  after  higher  ideals,  for  of  a 
state  of  perfection  after  the  present  life  Confucian- 
ism made  no  mention,  Taoism  but  slight;  but  the 
new  church  proclaimed  such  salvation,  partly  or 
wholly  obtainable  already  in  this  earthly  existence. 
Love  and  compassion  toward  all  that  lives,  ex- 
pressed in  good  works  of  a  religious  and  a  worldly 
nature,  were  the  chief  means  of  attaining  it,  hand 
in  hand  with  resort  to  saints  and  invocation  of  their 
assistance.  And  this  enormous  blessing  the  new 
religion  brought  without  interfering  with  any  exist- 
ing conditions,  even  without  accusing  or  incrim- 


BUDDHISM  209 

inating  with  heresy  the  religious  elements  which 
were  found  in  pagan  hearts  and  customs.  It  even 
allotted  a  place  within  the  pale  of  its  own  church 
to  that  paganism,  principally  to  its  worship  of  the 
dead.  This  worship  it  surrounded  for  the  first 
time  with  an  aureola  of  outward  splendor,  introduc- 
ing new  freshness  and  new  vitality  by  its  dogmas 
respecting  another  life,  and  by  its  ceremonial  for 
raising  the  dead  into  better  conditions.  Moreover, 
the  new  doctrine  of  salvation  was  a  doctrine  in  the 
true  oriental  spirit,  that  is  to  say,  aristocratic  in 
shape  and  appearance,  yet  excluding  no  one,  how- 
ever low  and  insignificant ;  not  even  the  weaker  sex, 
which  is  regarded  and  treated  in  the  East  as  of 
inferior  quality  and  importance;  and  we  therefore 
can  conceive  how  readily  it  ingratiated  itself  into 
the  sympathies  of  the  oriental  mind,  bent  on  mys- 
ticism. A  great  void  had  hitherto  remained  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Chinese  people;  Buddhism  nestled 
_  therein,  and  maintained  itself  there,  as  in  an  impreg- 
nable stronghold,  to  this  day. 

This  mighty  influence  of  the  church  upon  the 

people  gave  birth  to  a  number  of  lay  communities, 

the  members  of  which  made  it  their  object  to  assist 

each  other  on  the  road  unto  salvation,  with  broth- 

14 


2IO  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

erly  and  sisterly  fidelity.  They  were  a  natural  fruit 
of  the  doctrine  that,  to  obtain  salvation,  it  was  not 
at  all  necessary  to  retire  into  a  monastery;  for 
ordinary  men  and  women  it  was  quite  sufficient  to 
obey  the  five  fundamental  commandments  against 
the  infliction  of  death,  theft,  adultery,  lying,  and 
alcohol,  as  observing  these  might  raise  them  to  the 
sanctity  of  the  dewas,  or  gods.  Frequently  we 
find  such  societies  mentioned  in  books  under  denom- 
inations which  evidently  bear  upon  their  principal 
means  for  reaching  sanctity;  but  about  their  cloc- 
-trines  or  rules  we  read  very  little.  The  first  and 
principal  commandment  compelled  them  to  be 
strictly  vegetarian;  they  applied  themselves  to  the 
rescuing  of  animals  in  danger  of  life  and  to  other 
works  of  merit,  as  also  to  the  worship  and  invo- 
cation of  the  chief  saints  who  lend  the  seekers 
after  salvation  a  helping  hand,  namely,  the  buddhas 
Shakya,  Amitabha,  and  Maitreya,  and  the  merciful 
Kwan-yin.  The  potent  names  of  these  saints  are 
continually  on  sectarian  lips.  The  female  element 
plays  a  part  of  great  importance  in  the  sects,  even 
a  predominating  part. 

The  broad  universalistic  views  of  the  Mahayana 
church  ever  compelled  it  to  regard  Confucianism. 


BUDDHISM  211 

and  Taoism  as  parts  of  the  order  of  the  world, 
therefore  as  ways  leading  to  salvation.  It  is  then 
natural  that  the  Buddhist  sects  contain  elements 
borrowed  from  the  religion  and  ethics  of  Confucius 
and  Lao-tsze.  It  is,  indeed,  the  nature  of  those 
sects  to  be  thoroughly  eclectic.  They  bear  irre- 
futable evidence  to  the  blending  of  Buddhism, 
Taoism,  and  Confucianism  into  a  single  religion ; 
the  Chinese  saying  that  three  religions  are  but  a 
single  one,  is  realized  by  sectarianism.  In  the 
principal  sects  the  Buddhist  element  predominates 
in  every  respect,  their  institutions  being  molded 
upon  Buddhist  monasticism.  They  possess  every- 
thing pertaining  to  a  complete  religious  system: 
founders  and  prophets,  a  hierarchy  and  a  pantheon ; 
commandments  and  moral  philosophy;  initiation 
and  consecration ;  religious  ritual ;  meeting  places 
or  chapels  with  altars ;  religious  festivals ;  sacred 
books  and  writings ;  even  theology ;  a  paradise,  and 
a  hell — everything  borrowed  principally  from  Ma- 
hayanistic  Buddhism,  and  partially  from  old  Chinese 
Taoist  and  Confucian  universalism.  It  is  through 
these  associations  that  piety  and  virtue,  created  by 
hopes  of  reward,  or  by  fears  of  punishment  here- 
after, are  fostered  among  the  people,  who,  but  for 


212  THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   CHINESE 

the  sects,  would  live  in  utter  ignorance  about  this 
matter;  indeed,  Confucius  and  his  school  have 
written  or  said  nothing  of  importance  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  the  Taoist  aspirations  to  perfection  by 
virtue  and  religion  have  evidently  died. 

The  sects  thus  fill  a  great  blank  in  the  people's 
religious  life.  They  form  the  main  element  thereof. 
Born  from  a  desire  to  understand  the  eternal  and 
infinite,  and  from  a  conviction  that  man  is  not 
destined  to  die,  but  to  live  forever,  the  sects  are 
manifestations  of  the  religious  instincts  of  man. 
They  are  accommodated  to  the  religious  feelings  of 
the  humble,  and,  by  satisfying  their  cravings  for 
salvation,  are  able  to  hold  their  own,  in  spite  of 
bloody  persecution  and  oppression.  The  sects  prove 
how  untrue  it  is  that  the  Chinese  people  are  a  prey 
to  indifferentism.  The  sects  supply  its  need  of 
commandments  for  human  life,  and  of  a  final  aim 
which  is  not  of  this  earth  and  is  attainable  by 
obedience  to  those  rescripts.  Their  doctrines  of 
virtue  and  salvation  speak  to  the  hearts  with  more 
emphasis  than  conceited  Confucianism,  with  its 
merely  outward  ceremonial  and  ritual,  and  its  main 
virtues,  which,  at  best,  only  contain  the  promise  of 
a  problematic  blessedness  in  this  earthly  life. 


BUDDHISM  213 

Spiritual  religion  only  exists  in  China  within  the 
circle  of  Buddhism ;  and  Buddhism  meets  the  human 
need  of  such  an  inward  religious  life  through  the 
sects. 

In  spite  of  persecution  by  the  government,  sects 
are  very  numerous  to  this  day.  Many  have  been 
founded  or  developed  by  men  who  set  themselves 
up  as  envoys  of  some  high  divinity,  or  even  as  a 
Messiah,  a  Maitreya  promised  by  Shakyamuni's 
church.  Chinese  writings  and  imperial  decrees 
sometimes  mention  such  prophets,  who  worked 
miracles,  pretending  to  have  dominion  over  spirits 
and  gods,  and  to  be  helped  and  served  by  them. 
Almost  invariably  we  are  told  that  such  prophets 
were  hunted  like  game  for  years,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  authorities,  were  tortured  and  put  to  death, 
or  banished  to  the  far-off  dependencies.  Such 
heresiarchs,  owing  to  the  ever-watchful  Confucian 
spirit  of  the  rulers,  of  the  nation,  could  never  meet 
with  lasting  success,  and  indeed,  Chinese  history 
is  remarkably  lacking  in  information  about  actual 
founders  of  religions.  But  there  must  have  lived 
numerous  founders  and  leaders  of  sects  who,  work- 
ing in  obscurity,  managed  to  avoid  collision  with 
mandarins,  and  as  a  consequence  were  not  recorded 


214  THE-  RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

in  the  books  of  an  empire  where  the  persecuting 
party  is  almost  the  only  one  which  wields  the  pen. 
Persecution,  a  danger  always  impending  over  the 
sects,  naturally  fosters  fraternization  and  solidarity 
among  their  members,  a  spirit  of  mutual  help,  devo- 
tion, and  even  sacrifice, — virtues  much  furthered  by 
the  principle  of  altruism  which  characterizes  East 
Asian  Buddhism  in  particular.  The  dangers  sur- 
rounding the  sectaries  enhance  their  faith  in  the 
protection  of  their  principal  saints  and  patrons, 
Shakya,  Amitabha,  Maitreya,  and  Kwan-yin;  they 
enhance  therefore  their  piety  and  devotion.  To 
avert  those  dangers,  it  is  for  every  sect,  or  branch 
of  a  sect,  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  to 
keep  its  existence  secret.  They  are,  in  fact,  secret 
societies,  branded  as  dangerous  also  to  the  welfare 
of  the  people  and  the  state.  And  foreigners,  unable 
to  distinguish,  are  wont  to  rank  them  all  impartially 
among  the  various  secret  societies  and  seditious 
clubs,  which  apparently  abound  on  the  soil  of  China, 
working,  as  is  universally  supposed,  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  reigning  dynasty.  'But,  against  such 
preposterous  identification  it  is  necessary  to  raise 
protest.  Only  from  the  Confucian  point  of  view 
can  there  be  a  semblance  of  correctness  in  it;  but 


BUDDHISM  215 

for  foreigners  there  is  no  reason  to  regard  the  mat- 
ter from  that  side. 

Yet  the  fact  is,  that  China's  history  proves  con- 
vincingly that  religious  sects  have  often  risen  in 
arms  against  the  state,  fostered  agitation,  sedition, 
nay,  even  rebellions  and  wars  which  have  raged  for 
years.  But  writers  in  China  always  forget  to 
reverse  the  picture ;  they  have  never  raised  the 
question  whether  such  events  were  outbursts  of 
suppressed  exasperation  provoked  by  centuries  of 
cruel  persecution  and  oppression,  or  by  endless 
tribulations  fanned  into  a  frantic  desire  once  for  all 
to  rid  the  country  of  the  yoke  of  state  fanaticism. 
China's  authors  do  not  enter  into  such  trifles.  They 
are  all  adepts  of  the  Confucian  school,  and,  as 
such,  acknowledge  only  one  Confucian  alpha  and 
omega,  namely,  the  state,  its  standpoint,  its  inter- 
ests; he  who  thwarts  government,  for  any  reason 
whatever,  or  under  any  circumstances  whatever,  be 
it  for  religious  liberty  or  for  natural  self-defense, 
is  a  rebel,  or,  which  means  the  same  thing,  a 
criminal  of  the  highest  order,  deserving  the  most 
cruel  form  of  capital  punishment, — slow  carving  to 
death  with  knives,  and  extermination  of  his  family. 

The  hostility  of  the  state  against   the  sects   is 


2l6  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

considerably  enhanced  by  the  mere  fact  that  they 
are  societies.  A  dread  of  anything,  in  any  way 
resembling  association,  weighs  heavily  upon  the 
state  and  its  whole  officialism,  as  is  proved  by 
rigorous  laws  threatening  all  societies,  except  those 
of  fellow  clansmen,  with  strangulation,  or  flogging, 
and  banishment.  This  dread  of  conspiracy  cer- 
tainly is  a  proof  of  the  tyrant's  self-conscious  weak- 
ness against  his  oppressed  and  discontented  people, 
who  have  several  times  resorted  to  arms  by  millions. 
Thus,  since  the  Chinese  state  is  totally  unable  or 
unwilling  to  distinguish  between  a  religious  society 
and  any  other  association,  it  impartially  dooms  both 
categories  to  annihilation. 

Persecutions  of  sects,  connected  with  rebellion  or 
followed  by  it,  are  mentioned  in  great  numbers  in 
Chinese  literature.  It  is  well  known  that  a  series 
of  bloody  rebellions  marking  the  last  eighty  years 
of  the  reign  of  the  Ming  dynasty  and  its  final 
downfall,  were  preceded  by  severe  measures  against 
the  Buddhist  church,  and  that  in  this  gigantic  ris- 
ing a  principal  part  was  played  by  the  White  Lotus 
sect,  which,  evidently,  was  not  one  single  corpora- 
tion, but  embraced  several. 

Under  the  now  reigning  dynasty  persecution  has 


BUDDHISM  217 

been  peculiarly  severe.  Imperial  resolutions  and 
decrees  relating  to  persecution  of  religious  sects 
may  be  counted,  probably,  by  hundreds.  Many 
risings  of  sects,  smothered  in  streams  of  blood,  are 
clearly  declared  by  imperial  edicts  to  have  been 
preceded  by  bloody  persecutions  under  full  imperial 
approval.  A  most  frightful  religious  war  raged 
between  1795  and  1803;  in  those  years,  the  imperial 
armies,  sent  out  to  destroy  the  rebels,  devastated 
five  provinces :  Hupeh,  Sze-ch'wen,  Kansuh,  Shensi, 
and  Shansi,  literally  slaughtering  their  population 
to  the  last  man,  perhaps  one  fourth  of  that  of  the 
whole  empire.  Historians  declare  themselves  un- 
able to  estimate  the  number  of  victims.  Starvation 
and  suicide  no  doubt  destroyed  almost  all  the  aged 
and  the  weak,  the  women  and  children,  driven 
helpless  out  of  their  devastated  homesteads.  We 
certainly  do  not  exaggerate  when  we  say  that  there 
is  in  the  history  of  the  world  no  second  instance 
of  such  wholesale'  destruction  of  people  by  their 
rulers  for  the  sake  of  politico-religious  fanaticism. 
It  has  made  the  altar  of  Confucius,  on  which  the 
Chinese  people  is  frequently  immolated,  the  blood- 
iest ever  built 
A  famous  religious  rebellion  also  is  that  which 


2l8  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

broke  out  in  1813  in  Honan,  Chihli,  and  Shantung. 
It  was  likewise  preceded,  and  thus  undoubtedly 
provoked,  by  persecutions  of  peculiar  rigor.  This 
rising  of  sects  is  important  for  having  been  com- 
bined with  a  bold  invasion  into  the  palace  at  Peking, 
during  the  absence  of  the  emperor  on  a  journey  to 
the  West.  The  invaders  were  driven  back,  slain, 
and  captured;  but  the  imperial  family  had  a  very 
narrow  escape  from  extermination.  In  the  prov- 
inces, this  rebellion,  which  extended  over  half  a 
dozen  districts,  was  soon  broken  with  tremendous 
bloodshed  by  a  military  force  from  several  prov- 
inces, reinforced  by  three  extra  armies  of  Tartars, 
picked  Chinese  infantry,  and  horse.  It  ended  with 
a  terrible  carnage  at  Sze-chai  and  Hwah,  the  last 
strongholds  of  the  insurgents.  Consequent  on  these 
events,  Peking  was  for  more  than  three  years  the 
scene  of  a  bloody  terrorism,  being  thoroughly 
searched  for  sectaries  and  their  families.  Rebel 
leaders  brought  thither  from  the  provinces  were 
slowly  carved  tc  death  or  beheaded  by  hundreds. 

And  last,  but  not  least,  we  have  the  T'ai-p'ing 
rebellion.  This,  too,  according  to  official  docu- 
ments, was  preceded  by  persecutions  of  sects  on  a 
large  scale,  causing  the  first  risings  in  Hunan 


BUDDHISM  219 

province  in  1836.  Much  has  been  written  on  the 
progress  and  issue  of  this  most  terrible  of  catas- 
trophes which  visited  East  Asia  in  the  last  century ; 
we  all  have  heard  of  the  principal  leader,  Hung 
Siu-ts'uen,  who  had  himself  crowned  emperor  in 
Nanking,  and  of  the  fact  that  this  man  and  his  sect 
had  adopted  some  Christian  principles  and  doc- 
trines. We  know  of  the  campaign  of  England  and 
France  against  Peking  in  1860,  facilitated  by  the 
insurgents,  who,  shortly  before,  had  sent  their 
armies  under  the  walls  of  that  metropolis  of  the 
East.  Well  known  also  is  the  great  part  played  in 
the  crushing  of  the  insurgents  by  Gordon  and  his 
ever-victorious  army.  This  cooperation  of  Chris- 
tian armies  with  Confucian  heretic  butchers  paved 
the  way  for  the  fall  of  Nanking  on  July  19,  1864, 
and  for  the  death  of  the  T'ai-p'ing  emperor,  who 
had  his  residence  within  its  walls,  as  also  for  the 
re-conquest  of  the  rebellious  provinces,  which,  of 
course,  the  imperial  forces  converted  into  deserts, 
calling  their  work  pacification.  Should  in  truth 
that  longest  and  most  bloody  of  Asian  rebellions 
have  been  an  effort  of  a  desperate  people  to  throw 
off  a  yoke  of  bloody  religious  intolerance  and 
tyranny,  will  not  then  the  curse  of  the  millions  of 


22O  THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   CHINESE 

its  victims  forever  be  on  the  European  policy  of 
those  days? 

Religious  communities  or  sects  are  constantly 
being  formed  among  the  people  to  this  day.  Like 
the  Buddhist  church  itself,  which  calls  them  into 
existence,  they  are  an  eye-sore  to  the  Confucian 
state.  That  man  has  religious  and  spiritual  wants, 
and  that  gratification  of  these  is  a  foundation  for 
his  material  happiness,  more  solid  perhaps  than  any 
other,  this  the  Chinese  state  appears  never  to  have 
discovered;  nor  does  that  state  seem  capable  of 
cherishing  any  sympathy  for  the  people's  craving 
to  be  elevated  to  something  higher  than  mere 
earthly  bliss,  by  means  of  piety,  compassion,  be- 
nevolence, and  abstinence  from  bloodshed  and 
slaughter  of  men  and  animals.  All  such  things  are 
heresies,  which  must  be  expelled  from  minds  and 
customs.  The  sects  must  be  persecuted ;  their 
obstinate  propagandism,  their  religious  practices 
and  pious  meetings  must  be  punished  with  stran- 
gling, flogging,  and  exile. 

For  the  carrying  out  of  these  principles  the  state 
possesses  a  series  of  laws,  which,  as  is  the  case  with 
the  law  on  convents  and  the  clergy,  are  an  in- 
heritance from  the  Ming  dynasty.  We  may  call 


BUDDHISM  221 

this  the  law  par  excellence  against  heresy,  specially 
enacted  to  keep  the  laity  free  from  pollution  by 
heretical  dogmas  and  practices,  and  to  destroy 
everything  religious  and  ethical  which  cannot  be 
said  to  come  up  to  the  standard  of  pure  Confucian- 
ism. Whether  the  systematic  state  intolerance,  for 
which  during  the  last  five  centuries  this  law  stands 
the  most  eloquent  witness,  was  already  active  in 
the  direction  of  persecution  in  an  earlier  period,  we 
cannot  assert,  as  we  have  not  discovered  any  docu- 
mentary evidence  on  this  head.  But  knowing  that 
the  Confucian  principle  of  intolerance  was  even 
then,  in  its  halcyon  days,  working  against  Bud- 
dhism in  particular,  it  is  difficult  to  get  rid  of  the 
supposition  that  heresy-hunting  was  as  much  in  -V 
vogue  then  as  it  is  now.  Chinese  sources  may  in 
the  future  reveal  much  to  support  this  conclusion. 
We  have  also  here  to  take  into  account  the  fact  that 
ultra-conservatism  has  always  been  the  backbone  of 
China's  state  policy,  and  that,  therefore,  the  legis- 
lators of  the  Ming  dynasty  can  hardly  have  failed 
in  this  matter,  too,  to  build  upon  precedents. 

That  law  is  of  special  interest  for  preachers  of 
the  gospel,  because  the  Chinese  government  has 
from  the  very  outset  considered  it  to  be  also  appli- 


222  THE   RELIGION    OF  THE   CHINESE 

cable  to  Christianity.  No  missionary  or  preacher 
in  China,  no  instructor  of  future  missionaries  -at 
home,  no  leading  man  in  the  missionary  world 
should  be  ignorant  of  its  contents  and  spirit,  still 
less  any  ambassador  or  consul  of  the  powers  which 
give  protection  to  missionaries  and  their  converts. 
It  entitles  the  mandarinate  to  punish,  without  any 
restriction,  leaders  and  members  of  all  religious 
corporations  with  strangulation,  numerous  blows 
with  long  sticks,  and  lifelong  exile  to  a  distance  of 
3000  miles.  That  law  shows  us  as  plainly  as  pos- 
sible that  they  may  rage  blindly  against  religious 
communities  in  general,  without  any  discrimination 
between  degrees  of  heresy,  and  even  against  all 
innocent  religious  practices  whatsoever,  should  they 
deem  them  to  be  heterodox.  That  law  raises  before 
our  eyes,  in  its  fullest  reality,  the  fact  that  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Far  East  has  nothing  but  martyrdom 
to  expect  from  the  Chinese  government,  as  long  as 
this  walks  in  the  path  of  its  own  culture. 

The  syncretic,  tolerant  character  of  the  sects, 
their  doctrines  of  love,  truth,  sanctity,  and  future 
life — these  and  yet  other  points  cannot  but  inspire 
them  with  sympathy  for  the  Christian  communities, 
which  are  likewise  so  often  and  so  cruelly  perse- 


BUDDHISM  223 

cuted  by  Confucianism.  I  have  known  sectaries 
who  possessed  some  acquaintance  with  the  Gospels, 
translations  of  which  are  distributed  by  the  mis- 
sions everywhere  with  a  free  hand;  some  of  my 
sectarian  acquaintances  even  knew  passages  of  the 
Bible  by  heart.  To  many,  the  eternal  Order  of  the 
World  is  the  same  being  as  our  God ;  and  Jesus  is 
in  their  eyes  one  of  the  many  dipankara  or  luminous 
buddhas,  whom  the  Order  of  the  World  set  to  work 
for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  Seeing  sectaries 
thus  interested  in  the  Christian  faith,  I  cannot  dis- 
miss from  my  mind  the  conviction  that,  if  Chris- 
tian missions  would  make  the  sects  their  field  of 
labor,  converts  would  flock  to  them  in  considerable 
numbers,  encouraged  also  by  the  prospect  of  work- 
ing out  their  salvation  more  safely  under  foreign 
protection.  Is  it  too  idle  a  suggestion  that  those 
humble  sects  are  destined  to  be  the  precursors  of 
Christianity  in  China? 


INDEX 


Aceticism,   144  f. 

Almanack,  magical  use  of, 
52  f. ;  significance  of,  157 

Altars,    79,    116 

Ancestor  Worship,  62-88; 
definition,  66  ff. ;  altars 
for,  79;  a  national  duty, 
85;  combined  with  Bud- 
dhist ritual,  69;  classical 
Confucianism,  120;  cult 
of,  67  ff. ;  meaning  of,  67 ; 
missionary  relation  to,  86 ; 
philosophy  of,  63  ff. ;  pri- 
mitive, 98;  state  cult,  78; 
sacrifices  of,  71 ;  summary 
of,  87;  the  people's  re- 
ligion, 79,  120;  temples 
for,  80;  the  great  obstacle 
to  Christianity,  84 

Anchorites,    145 

Animism,  3-32;  original  re- 
ligion of  China,  i 

Annual    sacrifices,   80,    117 

Atmosphere,  medical  value 
of,  147 

Books,  influence  of  in  petri- 
fying Chinese  culture,  21 

Breathing,  life-giving  quali- 
ties of,  147  ff. 

Buddhism,      164-^23 ;      and 


Taoism,  150  f.,  165 ;  "com- 
mandments" of,  210;  con- 
vents, 185  ff. ;  enriched 
animism,  99 ;  elevating 
qualities,  101 ;  its  grounds 
for  popularity,  100;  in 
China  mahayanistic,  164 
f. ;  persecution  of,  199  ff. ; 
reasons  for  vitality,  208; 
supplies  ritual  to  ancestor 
worship  69 ;  universalism 
of,  165 

Buddhist  ethics,  183  ff. 
literature,  178  ff. ;  mo- 
nasteries, 168;  monks,  170 
ff. ;  rites  for  the  dead, 
191;  salvation,  184;  sects, 
212  f. ;  relation  to  Christi- 
anity of  sects,  223 

Burial   customs,    71 

Burial  long  delayed,   76 

Burial    rites,    76    ff. 

Charms  (see  Magic)  56; 
portraits  as,  54;  use  of,  58 

Chang-ling,  sketch  of,  154  f. 

Chinese  Empire,  early  his- 
tory of,  91  ff. 

Chinese  culture  reflects  the 
past,  21 


225 


226 


INDEX 


Chinese  religion  (see  Re- 
ligion of  China) 

Chinese  state  logically  in- 
tolerant, 215 

Christianity  liable  to  perse- 
cution, 199  f. ;  obstacles 
to,  83 ;  opposes  social 
custom,  85 

Classics,  and  Taoism,  133  f. ; 
interpret  the  universe,  48  £ 
magical  value  of,  49  ff. ; 
why  influential,  95  ff. 

Cock  in  magic,  36 

Codification  of  rites,  119 

Commandments  of  Buddha, 
169,  174  f. 

Confucius,  and  Lao-tsze, 
142 ;  and  Mencius,  81 ; 
condemns  heresy,  96; 
teaches  passivity,  142 
teaches  TetalTation,  183; 
teaching  altaut  sjgecters, 
9 ;  writings  ^f^  90 

Confucianism,  89-131 ;  an-< 
alysis  of,  102;  cult  of, 
103 ;  definition  of,  101 ; 
history  of,  91  ff. ;  local 
sacrifices,  116;  opposes  all 
foreign  religions,  192  ff. ; 
a  persecuting  religion,  215, 
ff . ;  relation  to  Taoism,  93 

Continuator,   81 

Convents,  influence  on  wea- 
ther, 187;  laws  against, 
206 

Conversion  of  China,  20 

Corpses,  care  of,   76 


Crusades  against  heresy,  96 
Cult    of    ancestor    worship, 

67    ff. 
Culture  of  China,  21 

Demons  (see  Ghosts,  Spec- 
ters, Magic),  Activities 
of,  5 ;  animals  possessed 
by,  12  ff. ;  methods  of, 
overcoming,  8;  old  ob- 
jects especially  haunted, 
117;  plants  possessed  by 
16;  sacrifices  to,  59 

Demonism,  corner  stone  of 
religion,  32;  ethical  influ- 
ence of,  12;  folklore  of, 
13;  literature  of,  9;  and 
magic,  34;  official  attitude 
towards,  8 ;  sociological 
effects  of,  12;  summary 
of  doctrine,  34 

Disease  caused  by  specters, 

54 

Dharma,    166 
Dhyana,    18 
Doctor  and  priest  identical, 

160 
Domestic  rites,  130 

Emperor  as  object  of  wor- 
ship, 65;  cult  of  worship, 
103  ff. ;  related  to  religion, 
103 

Emptiness,  doctrine  of,   132 
Epidemics,       protection 
against,  40 


INDEX 


227 


Ethics    of    Chinese,    theory 

of,  22,  137  f. 
Examinations  decided  by 

specters,  30  ff. 
Exorcisms,  39  ff. ;  basis  of, 

45   ff. 

Fasting,    70 

Feasts,  126 

Fetishism,   74,   87 

Fire,    38 

Fire-crackers,    39 

Fnng-shui,   73,  75,   112,   186 

Ghosts  (see  demons,  magic 
specters)  ;  activities  of, 
6;  belief  in  dominates 
life,  9;  official  attitude 
towards,  8 

God,  Confucian  doctrine  of, 
102 

Gods,  121  ff. ;  classes  of, 
63;  innumerable,  62;  of 
Confucianism,  113  ff. ;  of 
Taoism,  152;  representa- 
tions of,  117 

Government  (see  state) 
must  persecute  sects,  221 

Graves   and  tombs,  73  ff. 

Hereditary  entail,  83 

Heterodoxy  endangers  pub- 
lic welfare,  48  f. 

Hinayana,   167 

History  of  persecutions, 
198  ff. 

Household   gods,    129   f. 


Human  sacrifices,  71 

Identification    of    state    and 

religion,    96 

Idolatry,    84,    121    f.,    161    f. 
Idols  multitudinous,   123 
Images    of   natural    objects, 

124 

Immortality,   148 
Imperial  graves,   78 
Imperial     tombs,      104     ff., 

109  ff. 
Infanticide,       measures 

against,   29 
Islam,  98 

Kwei,    meaning   of,   3 

Lao-tsze,  58,  128;  teachings 

of  140  f. ;  agreement  with 

Confucius,    142 
Lay    communities,    209 
Life    protected   by   specters, 

25 ;  means  of  prolonging^ 

146    f. 
Light,  38 

Literature  of  Buddhism,  179 
Longevity,    how    to    secure, 

148  ff. 

Magic,  33  ff. ;  almanack 
used  in,  52;  basis  of,  35; 
classics  used  in,  47;  and 
demonism,  34;  exercised 
by  processions,  40  ff. ; 
Philosophy  of,  36  ff. ; 
portraits  in,  52;  practice 


228 


INDEX 


ancient,  36;  systems  of, 
162;  theory  of,  46;  value 
of  words  in,  56 

Mahayana,    166 

Mahayanistic  Buddhism,  150, 
164 

Man's  relation  to  the  uni- 
verse, 4 

Mandarins,  magical  powers 
of,  50 

Mausolea,  73,  79,  108 

Men  as  Gods,  64  ff. 

Mencius,  81,  196;  condemns 
heresy,  96 

Missionaries  to  expect  per- 
secution, 222 

Monasteries,  156;  Buddhist, 
168  ff.;  Taoist,  149  f. 

Monastic    commandments, 

174 

Monastic   holiness,    181 
Monastic    life,    174 
Monks,    ordination    of,    169 

ff. ;  orders  of,  170  ff. 
Morality      safeguarded     by 

specters,  22 
Mourning,    70 

Nature  dominated  by  spirits, 

4 

Non-Confucian  religions  op- 
pose the  state,  198 

Nunneries,    Taoist,    150 

Opposition    of    Chinese    to 

Christianity,  86 
Opposition  of  Confucianism 


to    Buddhism,    196   ff. 
Orthodoxy  the  basis  of  wel- 
fare, 48 

Pantheon,    Chinese,    112    f. 
Peach,   symbolism  of,  37  f. 
Persecution  essential  to  Con- 
fucianism,   96    f. ;    logical 
basis   of,    46;    history    of, 
199    f. ;    reasons    for,    192 
ff. ;  of  Buddhist  sects,  199 
ff. ;   prescribed,  98;   result 
of     Confucius'     teaching, 
201 

Philosophy  of  magic,  36  ff. 
Plants,   power    of,    146    f. 
Polydemonism,  3-32 
Polytheism,   unlimited,   62 
Popular     religion,     120    ff. ; 
develops  idolatry,  122  ff. ; 
materialistic,   130 
Portraits   as    charms,    54 
Preaching  of  monks,   175 
Priests,  43,  56,  126  ff. ;  mar- 
ried, 128;  duties  of  Taoist, 

159  ff- 

Priestesses,    126 
Private  worship,    129 
Processions,  40  ff. 
Psychology  of  the   Chinese, 
53 

Rebellion  and  persecution 
related,  216 

Religion  of  the  Chinese,  a 
world  religion,  I ;  con- 
servatism of,  2 ;  cult  deter- 


INDEX 


229 


mined  by  demonism,  20; 
designed  to  influence  Tao, 
120;  dogmatic  and  perse- 
cuting, 96;  fundamentally 
a  fear  of  demons,  60;  a 
high  development  of  a 
low  stage  of  religion,  60; 
origin  of,  93 ;  Polythe- 
ism and  Polydemonism,  5 ; 
spontaneously  developed, 
I  ;universalistic  animism,  5 

Repentance,  181 

Relation  of  Confucianism 
and  Taoism,  100 

Rites,  codified,  119 

Ritual,    121    f. 

Round   eminence,   103,   106 

Sacrifices,  at  temples,  125; 
to  dead,  69;  tablets,  73 

Saints,   149 

Saintship,  qualities  of,  143  ff. 

Salvation,  207 

Salvation  of  the   dead,   191 

Sects,  persecution  of,  216; 
and  sedition,  215;  numer- 
ous, 213,  220 

Shen,    meaning    of,    3,    63 

Sick,    care    of,    128    ff. 

Sickness,    care   of,   41    ff. 

Social  life  rests  on  parent 
worship,  83 

Soothsaying,    157    ff. 

Soul,    nature    of,    4 

Soul  tablets,   72,  80,  84,  87 

Specters  (see  demons,  ghost, 
magic)  the  agents  of 


heaven,  17  f.;  avengers  of 
wrong,  24;  belief  in  the 
basis  of  morality,  22,  25 
f. ;  fundamental  to  relig- 
ion, 20;  influential  in 
official  examinations,  30; 
struggle  against,  32-61 ; 
three  classes  of,  9  ff. 
upholders  of  morals,  22  ff. 

Spirits  good  and  evil,  4  ff. 

State,  based  on  classics,  92; 
divinities,  107 ;  opposes 
non-Confucian  religions, 
198,  220;  sovereign  in  re- 
ligion, 189;  supports  per- 
secution, 211  ff. ;  ultra- 
conservative,  92 

State  religion,  rites  of, 
118  f. 

Struggle     against     specters, 

33-61 

Sutras,    165 

Symbols   used   in   sacrifices, 

70   ff. 
Systems  of  magic,  162 

Tablets,   80,    105 

T'ai-p'ing   rebellion,   218 

Tao,  the  order  of  the  uni- 
verse, the  basic  concep- 
tion of  the  Chinese  re- 
ligion, 3,  22,  33,  61,  90, 
133,  137,  164,  etc.;  identi- 
fied with  Dharma,  164; 
significance,  91  ff. ;  the 
summum  bonum,  136 

Taoism,  132-163,  91  ff. ;  re- 


230 


INDEX 


lations  to  Buddhism,  150 
f. ;  relation  to  Confucian- 
ism, 134;  ceremonies  of, 
57;  definition  of,  133; 
ethics  of,  137  f. ;  merit  of, 
153;  nature  of,  55,  137; 
origin  of,  133 ;  duties  of 
priests,  159  ff. ;  the  re- 
ligion of  China,  55  f. ; 
theology  of,  135;  virtue 
passive,  142 

Taoist  magic,  159  ff. 

Taoist  monasticism,  149, 
156;  nunneries,  150;  pan- 
theon, 152;  priests,  157  ff. 

Temples,  103,  116,  121,  125; 
centers  of  religious  life, 
123;  support  of,  122;  ruins 
of,  109 

Tiger  in  magic,  38 


Tombs  (see  mausolea),  108 

ff. 

Universalistic  animism,  3-32 
Universe,     (see     Tao)     93, 
dualism  of,  33;  how  con- 
ceived, 3;  constitution  of, 
3  f. 

Vitality  of  Buddhism,  208  ff. 

Wang    Chung,    59 
Widows,    suicide   of,   72 
Worship   of   ancestors    (see 

ancestor    worship)    67    ff. 
Worship  of  dead,  logic  of, 

66 

Worship  of  Emperor,  65 
Worship   of  living  men,  64 

Yang,   meaning   of,   3 
Yin,    meaning   of,    3. 


07  THE 

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